Yoda's Shadow
by amthyst-fire
Summary: At the height of the battle with the Emperor, Luke and Anakin are thrown back in time to before Anakin even meets Yoda and right into Yoda's lap. I am currently taking ideas and/or art submission for cover art for this story.
1. And they are there

**AN: I know this chapter is short, but it is the shortest one, and it gets better, I promise. Thank you for coming to read my story.**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Vader watched as Palpatine used Sith Lightning on his son. _His son. _"Now, young Skywalker, you will die." _Brother to his daughter. His daughter, who would not forgive him if he let her brother die. Padmé's son. Padmé, who wouldn't forgive him if either of his children preceded him in joining her in the Force. His son, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he let Luke die._ Anakin Skywalker picked up the Emperor, using his massive height to get him high enough to move him over the abyss. Dropping the Sith over the side of the railing, he collapsed. _I wish I could have known them,_ he thought, as he and Luke watched the body explode. He felt a pure, bright light envelope his tired form, and he released himself totally to it. He was ready to die.

* * *

Master Yoda sat in his meditation chamber. It was morning and light streamed through the windows, although the slats blocked a good portion of it out. The light made the carpet a blotchy gold and brown. Master Yoda was not paying attention to the carpet, but to some strange ripples in the force that he had come to investigate. He had thought that the ripples were quite odd, but never in his life had he seen anything like it. Watching the ripples was like seeing sound waves, but he caught evidence of their passing, now and again, with each one that passed being sooner than the one before it.

Eyes closed, he concentrated on the changes taking place. _Strange, it is, this happening._ He thought. No one had commented to him about it, and sensing was something that Yoda so far excelled at that anyone who had sensed it would have in all likelihood come to him. _For myself alone, this is. _Whatever was happening was getting closer, like a giant tether ball, wrapping around its pole. A crash in the room in front of him jostled him out of his meditation. An encased figure was the first to catch his eye; with that figure, there was a young man. A quick check showed them both to be strong force users. "Hmm-mm," Yoda said as he climbed down to get a closer look. The man was wearing all black, with a glove on one hand. He looked stunned. "What have you to say for yourself? Hmm?" Yoda poked him with his walking stick. "Interrupted my meditation you have. Hmm?" He looked over the young man, once more. "Recognize you I do not. Quick you shall be, or away you will go."

The man swallowed, and then started talking, "Master Yoda, I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what is going on. We were fighting the Emperor and then suddenly we were here."

"Humph. Know me, do you?" Master Yoda poked him again. "Unknown, you are still."

"Luke, Master Yoda," he said, "I am Luke. You trained me, and then you were no more." He seemed very surprised to see Master Yoda, but through his Jedi training, was simply dealing with the situation presented to him.

"Trained you, did I?" Master Yoda looked him over again. "Many years it has been since a Padawan's training I have undertaken." Yet Yoda's senses told him that this Luke was being truthful. "What of him?" Yoda poke the encased figure between them.

Luke looked startled, as he had obviously forgotten the man. "This is my father," he said quietly.


	2. Quick work for the Healers

**AN:** **In response to Yoda1976, I draw a distinction between Yoda's Younglings and a Master's Padawan.**

**To everyone: OMG. Someone actually read and liked my story. I'm so happy. Does a happy dance**

* * *

Chapter 2

"Your father is he?" Yoda poked the figure with his walking stick. "Not much longer will you have him, should he continue to lose strength."

"We should get him to a healer." Luke said. "Or maybe a mechanic would be better?"

"Humph. Healers he shall see." Yoda walked over to a communicator, and spoke briefly with the person on the other end. Luke watched over his father with his eyes and with the Force. He bolstered his failing life force, hoping that he would be able to help him gain a new life here, wherever that was. So much had happened in such a short span of time that he was not certain that he knew what was going on. _Am I dreaming? _He wondered, not knowing if he had hit his head in the battle with the Emperor, _I'm too sore from that lightning to be dreaming. _Then there was the matter of Master Yoda. _I watched him die, or rather, fade into the force._ "Master Yoda, why are you here?"

"Humph. The wrong question do you ask. Why are _you_ here?" he punctuated his words with jabbing motions with his walking stick.

Luke felt unsettled by the question and by Master Yoda in general. _What has happened to me? _He wondered, becoming alarmed by the question.

The healers chose that moment to step through the door, whisking Anakin away, muttering things under their breaths.

"To your thoughts I leave you, Jedi Luke." Master Yoda said, heading out the door after the healers.

Luke stood. Looking around the room, he walked over to the window, and looked out onto the bustling rush of Coruscant.

* * *

Yoda followed in the wake of the Healers, walking into the Healer's rooms about 5 minutes after they did. He sat upon a stool, out of the way, but high enough so that he could watch the proceedings. 

The Healers had removed Anakin's helmet, and replaced it with a respirator. The scars on his head prevented any hair growth, and he'd been inside the suit so long that he had no color whatsoever. They gave him several shots of different things to help his body combat the damage that the force lightning had caused. Anakin remained unconscious throughout the whole of it. When the Healers pronounced him stable, one of them came over to Yoda.

"We have had no one who has survived as much damage as this man has put his body through." She said to Yoda, shaking her head. "As near as we can tell without getting him out of that thing, he's lost both legs near the hip, the better part of one arm below the elbow, the majority of the other arm above the elbow, and has been badly burned over about 90 of his body. His lungs show evidence of being badly burned as well, though the mechanics of his suit help him breathe. We have him on oxygen now, which will help him to recover faster, hopefully."

Yoda absorbed the information that she was giving him. He sighed. "A secret his presence here must be. Away he must be hidden, and carefully he must be watched. Darkness I sense upon him." Yoda looked at the young Healer. "Heavy this burden will be for you."

"I will see to it, Master."


	3. Sleep, and make a difference

Chapter 3

Anakin woke. He stared at the ceiling, and the ceiling was there. It did not move. It was white. It shouldn't have been white, but it was. He blinked. He inhaled with a rush of air that was trying to force its way in anyway. He heard beeping and voices melding together, but when he tried to focus on either they slipped out of his grasp. He smelled something as well, and like the white ceiling, he shouldn't have been able to smell. A few words caught in his ears before he slipped out of consciousness again: "…alive, but…barely…"

* * *

Luke had never seen the likes of Coruscant. It was like Mos Eisley, but thousands of times larger. Tearing his gaze away from the city, he took a seat on one of the meditation cushions. Dropping into meditation, he instantly felt that there was something wrong with the Force. He could sense the vibrancy of the city, but it had been merely a thought away, rather than a battle royale to drop into contact with the Force. The Force was so different that he thought he was imagining things.

He focused on Master Yoda's question, thinking that the Force would show him an answer. He thought he almost heard a whispered _to make a difference._ The Force had never whispered to him before. He let the thought suffuse him, and found it to be the truth.

He jumped when Master Yoda rapped him on the head with his walking stick. "Master Yoda…" He began, but Yoda cut him off.

"Your story I wish to hear," he said getting comfortable on one of the cushions. "Long has it been since someone so deep with the Force I have encountered."

"I grew up with my Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on Tatooine. There was an old man in the desert, Old Ben, we called him. We bought two droids that the Jawas were selling, but they turned out to belong to my sister, who was a leader of the Rebellion. R2-D2 took off on me and I had to chase him down. He led me to Old Ben, whose real name I learned was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"It wasn't long after that when Storm Troopers came chasing after the two droids, and they destroyed my uncle's farm. Obi-Wan said for me to come with him, it was too dangerous to stay. I followed him, and he started to train me in the ways of the Force. We headed for Alderaan, where Obi-Wan thought that he might make contact with the Rebellion, but on the way there, he said that he felt millions of lives just get snuffed out, and when we got to Alderaan, it was gone. We were captured by the Empire, and we escaped, but not before Obi-Wan died at the hands of Darth Vader. I helped the Rebel Alliance for a while, until Obi-Wan appeared to me through the Force, telling me to go to Dagobah.

"I follow his advice, and I meet you there." Luke paused for a moment, almost afraid to go on.

"More I wish to hear."

"Yes, Master." Luke took a deep breath and then continued. "I went to Dagobah to complete my training, but there were things going on with Leia and Han, and I wanted to go help them. You told me that I shouldn't go, but I went anyway. I returned, but it was too late. You were dying, and couldn't help me anymore. You and Obi-Wan told me that I needed to confront Vader, who was my father, Anakin Skywalker, to become a Jedi Knight, as my final trial. I did go to confront him, but I believed that there is good in him, so I tried to help him to find his way back to the Light. He took me to see the Emperor, and the Emperor tried to turn me to the Dark Side. I am ashamed to say that he goaded me into a fit of anger in which I hurt my father. But still, I did not kill him. The Emperor promised me many things, but I refused him. In the end my father did see the light and picked the Emperor up and threw him down a reactor shaft. At the moment that the Force released the Emperor's life-force, we were here."

"Released the Dark Side, he has? Trouble in that there will be for him." Yoda said, and then the communicator demanded his attention. He shuffled over to it, and on the other end, the Healer he had left in charge of Anakin's care popped into view.

"Master Yoda, you had better come and see about this," she said as she was wringing her hands. "I don't know what to do."

"Come to you I will," Yoda said to her. "See you I must."

* * *

Master Yoda walked into the back room where they were keeping Anakin. The Healer who was sitting with him looked up, and got down off her stool. "Master Yoda, we are trying to keep him sedated, but he metabolizes the midi-chlorian blockers so quickly." She looked chagrined. "I wish there was another way to sedate a Jedi."

"Place him in a healing trance I will, since unable to do so your Healers have been." Yoda took great care with the man he faced, for a wounded soul was as much a danger to themselves as they were to others.

"Thank you for doing this. We've done our best to keep him alive, but he barely touches the Force and he starts going into fits." She rubbed her arms, as though she were feeling a chill. "I've never seen the likes of it."

Yoda was silent as he completed the task, then turned to her. "Finished I am with your patient. Renounced the Dark Side he has, that is what ails him." He patted her arm. "Survive this he may not, no matter what is done for him."


	4. Finding Time

Chapter 4

Anakin drifted through a healing trance, shut off from the Dark Side, clinging to a word. He wasn't even sure, in his state of mind, what the word meant, but he knew that it was important. The word was "alive." He rolled it around in his mind looping it over itself, poking it, prodding it, examining it from every angle, trying to find out what was so very important about it.

* * *

Luke paced with uncharacteristic impatience. Every time he thought he might get some answers out of Master Yoda, he was called off. He thought about heading out after him, but the thought of getting lost in what had to be a gigantic structure within the largest city he had ever seen was daunting to say the least. Finding him with the Force, something that he would have thought impossible prior to his appearance in Yoda's meditation chamber, now seemed like it might work. He dropped into a meditative trance once again, but found that Master Yoda was heading in his direction. He felt relieved that he wasn't going to have to navigate the building to find his answers.

* * *

Master Yoda walked along the corridor for the fourth time that morning. One of the Jedi charged with ensuring that administrative items were all in order caught up with him. "Master Yoda, I am glad I caught you." He began.

"Unless to tell me that the Council is to be in session today are you here, to other things I must tend." Yoda said firmly.

"Of course Master, I understand. That _is_ why I am here."

"Why the Council meets, do you know?"

"The Supreme Chancellor has requested an audience."

"Odd this is. There I shall be."

"Thank you, Master."

Master Yoda continued toward his meditation chamber, as the younger Jedi went off in another direction down a side hall. He entered his meditation chamber again, appraising Luke as he entered. "Patience you should learn, young Jedi." He said, settling down once again on his cushion. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, a student of mine, he was. Qui-Gon's Padawan, he is now. Traveled from the future I believe you have."

Stunned at this revelation, Luke sat back, letting out a breath. "What can we do now?" he asked mostly to himself.

"Wait." Master Yoda said.

"Wait? Wait for what?" Luke asked, his frustration starting to get the best of him.

"A Council meeting I have today, and precarious your father's health is. Go see him we should, and stay with him you will, until done with this I am."

* * *

"Good, you are here." Qui-Gon Jinn said as he entered the apartment that he shared with his Padawan.

"What is it Master?" Obi-Wan asked, looking up from his reading.

"We have been requested to see the Council, this afternoon."

"There's nothing going on that they would want us involved in is there? After what happened the last time that we went on a mission for them, I would think that they wouldn't want us anywhere out of their sight."

"They are not requesting our presence. Supreme Chancellor Valorum is."

"Oh, really. This is interesting. What could he want with us, I wonder?"

"Wonder indeed," Qui-Gon said heading off to another room to find formal attire for their meeting.


	5. A Quick Council Meeting

Chapter 5

Anakin felt freedom as the force healed his body, making it strong once again. _Alive. _He thought. _I am alive._ He felt as though he had been trapped inside of a very small room, but it wasn't a stricture that he disliked. _Alive is good._ He thought, drifting through the Light. He began to notice other presences in his very small space. Curious, he tried to examine them, but they were beyond his walls, like the sun shining into a window. He did not feel as though he was quite finished yet, and he didn't want to interrupt the process. It felt so good to be wrapped up in Light.

* * *

Luke walked with Master Yoda to the Healer's chambers; quietly they walked to the back rooms, and into the room where Anakin was being held. Looking on his father's scarred face; he felt a great sense of peace coming from him. Luke knew that he had made the right choice when he hadn't given up on turning his father to the Light.

Yoda said to the Healer, "Feed this one, I wish you to, while by his father's side he waits."

"I think he'll be able to feed himself," she said, grinning at the small green Master.

"About that we shall see," Yoda said to her. He turned to Luke and said, "To the Council Meeting I go. Return I shall, when it is done. How he is, we shall see then. Completed, his healing is not, but close it is."

Yoda headed out the door, but Luke had already turned his attention to his ailing father. The Healer slipped out the door and back in while Luke sat vigilant with Anakin.

She handed a tray of food to Luke, saying, "Master Yoda wants you to eat. I'd do it if I were you. He can get very unhappy when people aren't doing what's best for them."

"I know," Luke said, taking the food which he picked at while he sat there with Anakin. He noticed that they had repaired the mechanical arm which he had cut off during the duel before the Emperor. His helmet sat off to one side, and he was breathing with the help of a respirator.

"Does he really need that?" he asked the Healer, pointing at the respirator.

"He would die without some sort of oxygenation, yes. His lungs were very badly damaged at some point in his life." she said. "His mask does the same thing, as well."

* * *

Obi-Wan thought it very odd that they were being asked to attend a meeting of the Jedi Council by the Chancellor. He wondered what it was all about as he dressed in the formal clothes that Qui-Gon had laid out for him.

"Master," he said in a thoughtful tone, "could this have anything to do with that trade federation siege on Naboo? The senate certainly has been riled up about it."

"I do not know, my young Padawan, but we will find out quickly enough for me." Qui-Gon replied, as he belted his overshirt in place, and then adjusted Obi-Wan's garments to his satisfaction.

* * *

Yoda left Luke, but was still very unsettled by the events of that morning. He headed up to the Jedi Council Chambers, needing this meeting to be a short one, and expecting that it would not be.

Entering the Council Chambers, Yoda hope to catch Mace Windu alone, but although he was there, so were Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Oppo Rancisis. While all of them were great Masters in their own rights, none of them were suited to the task at hand. He sighed, and walked over to his seat, waiting quietly for the rest of the Council to arrive.

* * *

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan left their room and headed for the Council Chambers. On the way there, they met up with Supreme Chancellor Valorum.

"Ah, good, just the Jedi I wanted to see," Valorum said.

"What is this all about?" asked an impatient Obi-Wan.

"Well, I have a favor I need to ask of you,"

"And that would be?" Qui-Gon asked, imposing the half-a-head height difference he had on the Chancellor.

The Chancellor, used to having people try to intimidate him, was unfazed. "I need you to go to the Trade Federation blockade at Naboo and negotiate a treaty with them. I have no one I can trust to do this except the Jedi. You are the most famed diplomat, perhaps outside of Master Windu, and I don't think even I could pry him from his Council seat short of the outbreak of war. I hope to prevent that."

Qui-Gon frowned at this. He didn't pay as much attention to the Senate as did his Padawan, because they spent too much time rehashing the past and not enough time living in the present.

The Chancellor continued, "You are also famed for your, shall we say, unconventional, way of getting things done."

They arrived at the Council Chambers, and Qui-Gon held the door as the Chancellor entered, then caught the sleeve of Obi-Wan's shirt, whispering to him, "I do not like this, be on your guard."

Yoda opened the proceedings. "Chancellor Valorum, asked us here you have. To tell us something, are you here. To listen are we here."

"Thank you, Master Yoda. I have come before you today in secret to ask that you help to end the blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation. It is with great regret that I have been unable to find a political means of doing so. It is only with much deliberation that I ask that the Jedi involve themselves in such a political dispute, as I know that the custom of the Jedi is to remain neutral. I fear that this is the beginning of a greater conflict, and I think that it is possible if we stop them now before blood is shed that we will be able to avoid a war altogether. This is my sincere hope. Having had contact with numerous Jedi over the years I thought it wise to chose two Jedi in whom I have the utmost confidence, and who will be able to, I believe, overcome any obstacle placed in their path to peace. I ask that you send Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the besieged planet of Naboo in order to circumvent this coming war."

Qui-Gon was stunned. He had never heard such a direct speech from a politician of any stripe, especially one so highly placed as the Chancellor.

Master Yoda was slow to respond, weighing his words very carefully. "Much thought have you placed into this mission. Of very grave importance I feel you understand this to be. Object to this I cannot."

Qui-Gon looked around the room, wondering if any of the other Masters would object. None of them seemed to want to disagree with Master Yoda. Usually, all the people who didn't belong on the Council would be kicked out and then sometimes weeks of deliberation would ensue. Sensing with the Living Force, he found that Yoda wanted to keep him out of something, something about Obi-Wan. He heard the Master's thoughts on this: _Discuss this we will, upon your return. _

Qui-Gon, satisfied that whatever was going on with Master Yoda and the Council would not affect this mission, he said, "We can be ready to leave tomorrow if that is suitable?"

No one seemed to want to say anything again. After a lengthy pause, Master Yoda said to Qui-Gon, "So be it."


	6. A Master meets a Jedi

**AN: Yoda1976, YOU and your wondering will be the death of me I swear. I appologize that it took as long as it did to get this chapter up, but here it is. **

* * *

Chapter 6

Mace Windu waited as Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, the Chancellor, and several of the council members filled out of the room. He looked at the small green Master seated next to him, and Yoda said to him, "This evening, come to me you will." It was almost a whisper; low enough, anyway, that no one else could have heard it. Mace nodded, and Yoda got up and made his way across the room. Ki-Adi-Mundi stood and came over to talk to Mace. "What was that about?"

"I don't know." Mace said, staring off ahead of him. "Something has happened. I don't know what."

"We should have had a debate!" Ki-Adi-Mundi complained. He was always raring for a fight, be it verbal, or physical.

"What would your vote have been, in the end?" Mace asked, unphased by his fellow Councilor's belligerence in this matter, because it was not belligerence, but rather, certitude.

"Well," he said, thinking for a few moments, "I don't see any reason that they couldn't go. It was not an unreasonable request."

"Does it matter, then, that no one got up their courage to tell Master Yoda that they wanted to have a discussion on this matter?"

"I don't suppose so," he said, laughing at Mace's choice of words and patting him on the back, "Did you want to have some sparring practice later tonight? After dinner maybe?"

"I have another engagement that will take up most of my evening tonight. We could arrange something tomorrow?" Mace answered, templing his fingers as he thought about his upcoming meetings.

"Something is keeping you out of the Lightsaber Arena? Must be something pretty important. I don't think there's anything too big going on tomorrow. What do you say to just after breakfast?"

"I shall be there." Mace said, rising and heading for the door.

* * *

Anakin spent several hours in quiet repose as he examined the presences just outside of his personal domain. There was a distinctly female presence, one that he thought he ought to recognize, but didn't. Her presence withdrew once, and then returned. While she was gone, another presence was there, this one distinctly masculine. He felt that he should recognize that presence as well. The realization that a great deal of his knowledge was forbidden to him, outside of his cocoon, came to him. There was also a third presence that came and went and came back, also familiar, and as he pressed his senses to the utmost, others, much less distinct, but every one of them was one that he had touched before, before…something. He eased into sleep beyond dreams then, away from his half-lucid, semi-aware dream-like state

* * *

Luke went back to picking at the food the Healer had brought him after she finished with him. He spent a good deal of time in very light contact with the Force, watching over his father. After some time there, he asked the Healer, "How long does a council meeting take?" 

She thought for a little bit. "It depends on the subject. A quick meeting usually takes about three or four hours. If it's something more involved, they can go most of the evening, then break and pick up again after breakfast."

Luke sighed. He hoped that this would be one of their shorter meetings. Watching over Anakin was a distraction, but only that. It wasn't like he would be going anywhere anytime soon. Anakin's spirit was slightly restless, brushing against his contact occasionally. Luke wondered at that because he'd never seen anyone in a healing trance before, nor had he had time to study anyone other than Master Yoda in any context with the Force.

* * *

Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon out the door of the Council chambers. Qui-Gon launched his way headlong towards, he assumed, their quarters. He guessed correctly, and closed the door behind himself once they arrived. "What's going on, Master?" Obi-Wan asked, his Master already over by the sitting area, not a good sign. 

"I have never had such a short Council meeting in my life. I didn't think it was really possible to get anything done in less than 5 hours unless it involved a life-or-death emergency, and even then, it would be iffy." Qui-Gon paced behind the couch, worrying the carpet with his feet as he often did.

"Well, Master, we have little to worry about. We have a mission, an easy one; just talk some sense into a few traders. Then we come back, and maybe we can sink our teeth into something better suited to our knowledge and ability."

Qui-Gon turned and looked at Obi-Wan, started twice to say something, then, apparently giving up, he went back to pacing for a few lengths.

"Did something happen, Master?" Obi-Wan asked, rummaging through the kitchen for something suitable to ease Qui-Gon's mood or his stomach, which was growling.

"Something, yes," Qui-Gon said distractedly, still pacing. "I'll be back after while. You stay here." He rarely ordered Obi-Wan from his presence, so this was definitely worrisome. Obi-Wan only caught the view of his retreating Master as he left their quarters when he came out of the kitchen to see.

* * *

Yoda waited for the room to clear, sensing that Mace was as well, he whispered to him, "This evening, come to me you will," waited to see a slight nod of acknowledgement, then left the room. He needed to get back to Luke and Anakin. They were important to the future, as well as being from the future, but the future needs to be handled with the utmost of care. He walked back toward the Healers, and was just about to step into the room when Qui-Gon caught up with him. 

"What is going on, Master Yoda?" Qui-Gon asked, seeming to be quite upset.

"Time to discuss this, now, I do not have. Later, will we speak on this."

"I don't care whether you think that you have time to discuss it now. You _will_ discuss this now, as it affects my Padawan."

Yoda turned his eyes down. "Unclear is the future, for this matter. No harm do I wish Obi-Wan in this. Unaffected by recent events, I wish him to be."

"Will you tell me what is going on, at least? I need to know if this really concerns Obi-Wan. Perhaps I can help to judge what and how much to tell him."

Yoda looked at Qui-Gon, studying his features, his certitudes. He finally nodded and sighed, heading off to the back of the Healers Hall.


	7. And Luke can go too

Chapter 7

Qui-Gon followed Master Yoda through the doors, where a man all in black, not much older than Obi-Wan, sat in contemplation of a figure on a bed. His hair, the shaggy length of a knight of about a year, was a shade of brown that looked as though it had once been blonde. He did not react to their presence.

Master Yoda went over to the young man. He looked over a food tray that had been brought in, then addressed him, "Eat so little do you? Worry less you should," Yoda diagnosed his problem almost immediately.

He did not even turn his head to look at Master Yoda. "I know," he said with a sigh, "It's hard for me not to worry though."

"See what is going to happen, soon enough you will," Yoda declared as Qui-Gon continued to watch from just inside the entrance, not entirely sure what was going on. He had never heard Master Yoda dismiss the events coming in the near future in such an off-handed manner.

"Of course, you are right, Master," said the young man, looking up at Yoda, "I forget myself sometimes."

"Hmmm. Put you to work I should. Good for you it would be."

"What kind of work, Master Yoda?" his voice sounded truly perplexed.

"With Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan you should go." Yoda settled in a low chair that had probably been brought into the room just for him. He turned to look at Qui-Gon then, a quick glance, and back to Yoda. "Yes, out into the galaxy you will go and, good for you it will be."

Qui-Gon was surprised the man had no arguments for Yoda. "Yes, Master," he said as he went back to watching the figure on the bed.

* * *

Anakin woke, really woke this time. He remembered being half-awake, not awake, and dreaming, but now he was awake. He opened his eyes, and saw Luke sitting with him. Luke smiled, and Anakin tried to say something, but he couldn't talk around his breathing equipment. _Luke, _he sent the thought through the Force. 

_I am here, Father, _he got back.

He closed his eyes, resting them. He was unaccustomed to such brightness. _What has happened?_

_  
I believe that we have gone back in time. This is what Master Yoda has told me. I saw him die several years ago, and yet he is here, and very much alive. _Anakin felt the presences of two others enter the room, one staying back, and one coming towards him.

"Eat so little do you? Worry less you should," came the voice of Master Yoda. He hadn't been dreaming. This was somehow real. _Master? _The tendril of thought reached out to Yoda. Much that had transpired, jumbled though it was, rushed to the surface of his mind.

"I know," he heard Luke say with a sigh, "It's hard for me not to worry though." _Discretion will this one need. _Yoda's thought returned to him.

"See what is going to happen, soon enough you will," declared Master Yoda, as he felt the brush of that mind against his. _Send him to Naboo, I wish. A real Jedi at work, he should see._

"Of course, you are right, Master, I forget myself sometimes." The phrase rang in his head. _He_ had said those very words, to Obi-Wan. The awful things that had brought him to the Dark Side, and everything since, in a way, had not even happened yet. A single tear welled up and fell down the side of his face onto his ear. _Naboo. He will not know that place._

"Hmmm. Put you to work I should. Good for you it would be." _I agree. _Anakin added his thought to Luke.

"What kind of work, Master Yoda?" _Why do you want me to run off now?_ Luke sent back to Anakin.

"With Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan you should go. Yes, out into the galaxy you will go and, good for you it will be." Anakin felt a wash of relief, knowing that his now-self could not be more than the not yet 10-year-old that had been when he watched the funeral of Qui-Gon, thirty-some years ago.

"Yes, Master," Luke agreed readily, but he had pressure from two sides to contend with. _Qui-Gon would have been a good Master to me, had he lived. _Anakin told Luke.

Puzzled, Luke asked, _Will he die soon? _

Anakin, having been able to fix time in his head now, said, _No, not this mission. But if you go, this might be the mission to Naboo when they pick me up. Don't be surprised. _Dredging up memories from the first time that he met Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan was bittersweet to Anakin, but by examining them in the Light, it was easier now.

Anakin felt Yoda following the conversation, but Qui-Gon had not been. Yoda said, "Proper equipment he does not have. See that he gets it will you?" _Important it is that who you are, Obi-Wan does not find out. _Yoda's thought infiltrated the conversation.

Qui-Gon lifted an eyebrow, "Is there a reason that he does not have proper equipment?" _I believe you are about to become a temple Jedi. _Anakin said to Luke, allowing a few of his happier memories with Obi-Wan through to him.

"Away on a mission have these two been for me. Problems they have had, in returning to Coruscant, many years has it been since they have seen the Temple." _A tiny fiction, to keep safe all those involved, I must tell: Existed before today, did you. _Yoda's mind-voice, heavy with regret, came through to him.

"Away." Qui-Gon said. "Humph. And now I ask, what does this have to do with my Padawan?" _Never was Qui-Gon one to be easily dissuaded. _Anakin thought to Luke.

"A vision of the future, they have seen, in a place heavy with the force," Yoda said. _A Master of the Force, he would not be, if that were not true._

* * *

"And that place would be?" Qui-Gon sounded like he was about to lose his patience again. 

Yoda leaned in closer to Qui-Gon, and said in a hushed tone, "Dagobah."

Qui-Gon looked startled. "What an absolutely wretched place," he stroked his beard. "I don't suppose you wish to share this vision with me?"

Luke stood and turned to Qui-Gon, and looked at him very seriously, "the things that I saw on Dagobah will haunt me for the rest of my days. I have shared them with Master Yoda, but I will not share them again."

"Your words ring true, Young Jedi. I will not press you, so long as this does not bring harm to Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, backing off the subject. "Come, let us get you equipped. We have little time to prepare for our departure, and you are an unexpected addition." _I will return, Father. _Luke thought as he headed out the door.

* * *

Obi-Wan paced nervously awaiting the return of his Master, which was quick, compared to some of his wanderings. The door opened, and Qui-Gon stepped through, much calmer than when he left. "Stop pacing, Obi-Wan, you will wear a hole in the carpet," he said as he stepped into their quarters, barely looking up to see what Obi-Wan had been doing. 

"I will not. If there is a hole in the carpet, it is from your pacing, I only picked the habit up from you, since you cannot stand to be still if there is something that you do not know everything about."

Qui-Gon harrumphed derisively, unimpressed with Obi-Wan's arguments. Luke entered, quietly, trying to be unobtrusive. "And who is this, Master?" He asked, curious.

Qui-Gon opened his mouth, and then closed it. He turned to look at Luke and said, "Master Yoda never gave me your name."

"I am Luke," he said.

"I haven't seen you around the Temple anywhere, Luke." Obi-Wan stated the simple fact, instead of asking a question.

"I just got here from Dagobah. We were there for about five years," he said.

Obi-Wan looked surprised, "I didn't know anyone could stand to be on that planet for more than a week, and that's stretching it."

"It grows on you," Luke said with a shrug.

"That's one way of putting it."

Qui-Gon broke into their conversation. "Luke needs equipment. Can you see that he gets everything that he needs? He is coming with us. I need to go arrange for our transportation."

"Yes, Master, of course."

Luke and Obi-Wan headed off for the lower levels, where basic supplies were stored and distributed.

* * *

Yoda watched the two Jedi leave. To the young Healer who he had charged with Anakin's care, he said, "Awake he is now. Tend to this I will." 

She bowed, said, "Yes, Master," and exited the room.

"Your story, I wish to hear." Yoda said after a few moments.

_Where would you like me to start?_

"Qui-Gon found you, to Luke you said. There begin."

_I was a slave boy on Tatooine when Qui-Gon found me and saw that I was using the Force in my Pod-Racing. He made a deal with Watto, my former owner. We came to Coruscant, and I was tested to see if I would be an acceptable candidate for training as a Jedi. I was not accepted, even though I had the highest midi-chlorian count on record. Qui-Gon said that it didn't matter what the Council said, he would train me. Then we went back to Naboo. There was a Sith Lord waiting there. He killed Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan managed to kill him, throwing him down the reactor shaft. With his dying breath, Qui-Gon made Obi-Wan promise that he would train me, even though he had only just gone through his trials, he hadn't even been confirmed as a Knight yet. _

"A Sith Lord, say you?" he looked at Anakin, who had turned his head to look at him. "Truth I feel in your words. Disturbing it is indeed. Continue," he commanded.

_Obi-Wan trained me to the best of his ability, but I was young, naive, unfamiliar with the ways of the Jedi, and headstrong. I was rash, and the Clone Wars only made matters worse, giving me a path to glory with nothing to check my progress, not even my conscience. I was a hero, and the people loved me for it. I was The Chosen One, The Hero with No Fear. I was permitted to skip my trials, because of the war. I had demonstrated each of the characteristics that the trials represented. I was made a Knight. I did something then that was probably the rashest thing that I have ever done in my life—I married Padmé, whom I had met on Tatooine while Qui-Gon was taking her to appear before the Senate. I thought she was an angel. We had little time together, but we saw each other any time that I was on Coruscant, which wasn't often. I started having dreams when I came back after having been gone for, oh, four, maybe six months, and found that my wife was pregnant. I dreamed that she would die in childbirth, but I couldn't take that, I had to find a way to help her. The Chancellor said that he knew the ways of the Force, and he would be able to help me. Little did I realize that he was the Dark Lord of the Sith, Master to Darth Maul ten years previous, and to Darth Tyranus, whom I killed less than a week earlier. I did horrible things, things I regretted even as I did them, to save her. In the end it was for nothing. I fought with Obi-Wan, and lost. In that moment I understood what I had lost, but I buried it deep within myself when I awoke, more machine than man. My purpose had been burned out of me on Mustafar, with the death of my Angel, my Padmé. Somehow Obi-Wan got her to safety, and took the twins from her before she died. Luke has a sister, Leia. _Anakin became contemplative then, for a while.

"More I wish to hear." Yoda said, after letting him come to terms with the probable fact that he would never see his daughter again.

_I spent the years that the twins were growing up, not realizing that they existed, just playing lap dog to a tyrant. I was his enforcer, going when he had to stay in the capital, instilling fear in the hearts of everyone around me. I did it mechanically, just going through the motions until they killed me. Palpatine would never have allowed me to kill myself. I was his prize, the Jedi-turned-Sith, the most powerful Force user in the galaxy. Then I found Luke, my child, and an ember flared to life in a fire pit that I that I thought had been cold for twenty years. I did not know how to feel anymore. The emotions burned me, at first. Palpatine was practically gleeful. Someone else to turn, who would be a real apprentice, and kill him when he had learned all that there was to know about being a Sith. I had refused time and again to kill him, but I was so much more than he, even broken as I am, that he could not cause me harm unless I allowed it. I allowed it to get far enough that I was forced to come to a decision. The life of my Sith Master, or the life of my child, the precious product of the love that I once shared with my wife. I chose to save Luke, though I knew the retribution that the Dark Side would exact on me for choosing to allow myself to be filled with love, driving out the hate, rage, and anger that had filled me, and kept me alive at times. I killed the Emperor because he was about to destroy the living embodiment of my love. This was the one reason for killing him that would cause a backlash through the Dark Side, killing me as well. I did not expect to live through the encounter, and truly I am surprised that I am alive at all. Luke saved me because I could not save myself. I don't know if this trip through time has stopped the backlash. I hope this is true, so that I can help to avoid the coming war, and the destruction of the Temple. _Another tear slid out of his eye as he thought of his role in the destruction of the Jedi Temple.

* * *

Mace Windu sat in quiet contemplation, waiting in Yoda's meditation room. Yoda walked in, closing the door behind him. "Much to discuss have we," he said as he got up onto one of the cushions. He settled himself down, resting for a while before starting. 

He told Mace everything that had happened, in as much detail as he could muster. "The future is dark, I fear. Uncertain am I if helpful this is."

"I have to agree with you. A Sith? This is a stretch, even with evidence. We will have to be careful."

"Enough it may not be."

"If Senator Palpatine is a Sith Lord, what is the best course of action for the Jedi?"


	8. Adjusting

**Thank you everyone for the kind reviews, and especially TriGemini for the insightful comments. **

* * *

Chapter 8

Mace Windu sat in meditation with Yoda, both of them contemplating the gravity of their situation, trying to untangle the mess that the appearance of two Skywalkers had created. At least they should be able to stay out of trouble. One was so badly injured that it would take weeks to get him back to full strength, and the other was nicely tucked away in the care of Qui-Gon Jinn. There was little that either could do to get out of line. "I wish to meet with this Luke Skywalker." Mace said to Yoda, after several hours of meditating together.

Yoda looked up at Mace, and then was reminded of the time by the moonlight falling through the windows. "Rest should I. In the morning, begin again we should."

Mace sighed. "I'll join you later on. I promised Ki-Adi-Mundi that I would spar with him after breakfast."

"Rash was your promise," Yoda teased Mace. "Go to see Anakin, I will. There I will be when seek me you do."

* * *

Anakin was left alone that night, and he slept, deeply, aware through the Force that he was not alone after all. 

He woke the next morning, hungry. He had spent most of the last day unconscious, and no one had offered to feed him. He was dismayed by the prospect. He tried to move, to get out of bed, but, his limbs protested to such an extent that he stopped trying. Frustrated he lay there for a few minutes. _I am saved, but now I am going to starve. Great. The Dark Side doesn't recognize me, or at least hasn't back lashed me yet for whatever reason, I am free to do as I please, but unless I can find a hyperbaric chamber, I am going to starve, or else I will die because I cannot breathe while I try to eat. Great._

The Healer came in to see him, as he was stewing. She checked his breathing, and looked down into his blue eyes. "I don't know what to do with you," she said, smiling. "I know you're probably hungry, but we won't have a hyperbaric chamber ready for you to use until about lunch time. After that, we wanted to run tests on your lungs to see how bad the damage is, and if we can do anything. With it having been so long since your accident, it may be too late, but it won't hurt to try." She was very cheerful, almost to the point of being irritating. He nodded to show that he understood.

"Some of your circuits blew. We aren't sure if we can fix your suit with you in it or not. It may be a while before you will be able to get around on your own." He nodded again, understanding now the protests of his mechanical limbs. "We can try to replace it if you'd rather. It's quite badly damaged, and you might be better off with something a little less conspicuous?" she suggested. He pondered her suggestion for a while, finally shrugging. He wasn't sure if what she asked would work, but it might be worth a shot. After all he hadn't had his mask on for going on two days, and he was almost starting to like it.

* * *

Luke felt quite strange running around with someone who, now, was younger than he, when he should be old enough to be Luke's grandfather. It unsettled Luke, but it also reinforced the idea that they were far into the past, well before he had been born. All of the years of his life, and nearly as many again, had they been thrown back in time. Every time that he said something to Obi-Wan, he had to stop himself from calling him Ben. 

"I'm glad Master Qui-Gon agreed to let you come on this mission. I haven't been around Jedi my own age much in the last few years. Maybe we could do some sparing on our trip?"

_Sure Ben, just like old times. _"Uh, yeah, that would be good."

"Let's see. First let's get your equipment belt," Obi-Wan said as they headed for a closed door. Entering, Obi-wan requested a belt for Luke. "All standard issue equipment, nothing too exotic." He turned to Luke and asked, "You've used equipment belts before, right?"

_You never gave me one, Ben. I have no clue what any of this is._ He accepted the belt from the attendant, "This is different than the one that I saw last. Could you give me a quick rundown?"

"Certainly." Obi-Wan took the belt from him and started opening the pouches, explaining the items and the basic features of each.

* * *

Obi-Wan felt that Luke was rather nervous around him. Every time Obi-Wan would say something to him, it would take him several seconds to prepare a response, and when he touched Luke's shoulder, it actually made him jump. 

"Is there something the matter?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping to sound soothing.

After a moment he answered, "No, nothing a little meditation and calm won't fix." Luke brought his hand up, rubbing the back of his neck, "today's been rough."

"I see. Well, let's get you some proper clothes, and then see where we can go from there." He led Luke to the Dresser's, and they started the quest to make him look like a Jedi from the outside, as well as from the inside.

The Dresser measured Luke from every conceivable angle, then, pursing her lips, she took off to the back, leaving them alone.

"Is she…" Luke's thought trailed off as he realized it was out loud.

"She's always like that. Very passionate. We've upset her by only giving her a day to get you outfitted. She doesn't like to do anything in less than a month. She has something that will fit you. I've seen the back of this shop, and it takes up half of this level of the Temple. You will look fine and your clothes will do everything that you need them to, but she won't be satisfied until it looks right to _her._ Not that we mere humans could tell the difference."

The woman returned with her arms full of clothing in the muted tans and browns of the Order. In short order, she had Luke outfitted, and satisfied that she had done the best that she could with him, shooed them out of the shop so that she could work.

They went to the Cobbler to see if they could get proper boots for him, which was not a problem, and a couple of other stops, and they headed in the direction of Qui-Gon's quarters.

Obi-Wan was determined to see if Luke had a sense of humor, and regaled him with stories of his adventures with his master.

* * *

Qui-Gon opened the door to his quarters to find Mace Windu on the other side of it. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked Mace. 

"Master Yoda told me that he had sent this new Jedi to you. I wish to meet him."

"Ah, that. I sent him off with Obi-Wan to the basement."

"I see." Mace said, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. "What are your impressions of the boy?"

Qui-Gon motioned for Mace to sit . "He seems right enough. Been through some really tough times, though. He is on edge, unlike any Jedi I have ever seen, and I've seen some troubled Jedi in my time. He has a strong Force presence, and otherwise seems to be capable. I had planned on feeling him out better on this trip to Naboo. It's long enough for that, I think."

Mace nodded, taking in the information that Qui-Gon offered him. Obi-Wan and Luke walked in at that point, laughing at one of the many things boys that age do, but stopped when they looked up to see the imposing Lightsaber Master.

The two Masters stood, and Mace went over to Luke. "Master Yoda told me about you, Luke. If you have time, I'd like to take some time to speak with you now."

Luke nodded, and then set down his packages. He still had on the last outfit that the Dresser had tried on him before she made them leave, a less formal, everyday outfit.

They went to Mace's Quarters, not far, but far enough for Luke to be uncomfortable with the silence. They went in to the Spartan room, and Mace offered Luke a seat, then sat down himself, across from him. "I hope you have found the Temple to your liking?"

"It's huge, massive, and this place," He said gesturing at the window, "is so busy and packed. I don't think I could have ever imagined it."

"Coruscant takes getting used to." Mace sighed. "I wanted to hear from you about the Sith. This is of great importance, and troubles me deeply."

Luke sat back, thinking for a minute. "I don't really know much about it. You would be better off talking to my Father about this," he sighed. "Nearest I know, I am over thirty years in the past, and I am 23 and the Emperor has ruled all of my life. I think that the Emperor took over shortly before I was born, and the Jedi were declared "Enemies of the Republic" and all killed shortly before that. Then the Emperor took over the Republic, and the wars ended. He was a Sith Lord and took my Father as his apprentice. I don't know more than that."

"And what was the date of these occurrences?"

"I don't know. It was around the time that I was born." Luke said, and provided that date.

Thirteen years in the future, was the date of his birth. "I see. You spoke of wars. What wars are you talking about?"

Luke looked up at him. "The Clone Wars, they went on for a really long time, like five or ten years. We're not there yet, are we?"

"No, we aren't. Hopefully we will be able to prevent them, as well as the other events you've told me of," Mace said, getting up. "I thank you for sitting with me and talking. You should go to bed."

"Sure thing." Luke stretched then headed off in the direction of Qui-Gon's quarters.


	9. Day Two

**AN: ** TriGemini: **He most certainly will, although it will take a good while for him to realize it, I think. I still have some kinks to work out of that thread as I weave it in. **

Pandora:** All of the people that Luke has thus far had any contact with have been in their declining years, so he hasn't had to work as hard as Obi-Wan has, and this does give him an advantage...maybe. **

**Thank you everyone for supporting my work in this little endeavor. I'm so happy to be able to write and get feedback! it makes it rewarding. This chapter does pull scenes and lines from Episode 3 to the forefront, and all credit for all of the characters and drama and all of Star Wars goes to George Lucas. I just co-opted them for my own entertainment. **

* * *

Chapter 9

Mace slept uneasily that night, his mind thrashing out the matter that had been put before him that day. He got up early, even though he'd gone to bed late, went to breakfast, and off to the Lightsaber Arena.

When he got there, Ki-Adi-Mundi was already there, waiting on him. "I thought you might have chickened out on me, you old dog."

"There are other responsibilities that I could be taking care of, but all things in their own time." Mace said, and then ignited his Lightsaber.

"Ha-ha. Good to see you are ready to go," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, and ignited his as well. They fought and went round and round in circles, crossing each other's path time and again, never one gaining the upper hand. For an hour they went on like that, holding each other off, but in the end, Mace pulled a spectacular maneuver, driving away Ki-Adi-Mundi's Lightsaber, and coming to rest with Mace's Lightsaber at his throat. Mace shut it off, and the two friends laughed. It had been a while since Mace had tried that particular move, and it had worked the last time, too. All the gathered students burst into applause, then drifted away to go back to their own practice.

"You're going to have to show me how to defend against that."

"One of these days, old friend," Mace said, clapping him on the back. "I need to go tend to something else now."

* * *

Luke slept on the sofa that night, and would the next, and then they would leave for Naboo. It was not uncomfortable, and he'd slept in worse places, in better places, but never with so many people around him. An uneasy night left him still sleeping when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan rose to start their days. Staying out of the living room, Obi-Wan stood looking at Luke, and Qui-Gon came up behind him. "He's very different, isn't he Master?"

"Yes, Padawan, he is quite extraordinary. I hope that the two of you got along well enough yesterday."

"Well, he seems quite nervous around me, but otherwise, it was quite fun, actually."

"I am glad. Maybe the two of you can enjoy each other's company as we go to Naboo."

"I certainly think that we will be able to get along for that length of time."

"Don't you have some classes to attend to today?"

Obi-Wan thought for a few seconds, then answered, "Yes, there are a couple that I still attend when we are here, but since we are leaving tomorrow…"

"You should be in class today. I will see to our guest, as well as travel arrangements, which did not get finalized yesterday."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan said, heading for the door.

* * *

Luke dreamed that night, as he tossed and turned on the unfamiliar sofa, in the unfamiliar world, in an unfamiliar time. He dreamt of Leia, and how at the moment that they disappeared, she was standing on the moon of Endor. He dreamt that she had come with them, and that he could find her, if he only knew where to look. He watched her, walking through a field filled with yellow flowers, and she turned her head and she saw him.

Startled awake by Qui-Gon, he gasped at the suddenness of the change of scenery. "I didn't mean to scare you, Luke," Qui-Gon said, concerned, "Did you want breakfast?"

Luke took several moments to adjust to his surroundings, "I was having a dream, and it was just really intense. Breakfast sounds good."

"Good dream or bad dream?"

He thought about it for a few moments, "I don't really know. Good I guess," he went into the fresher for a few minutes, then changed clothes.

"This way," Qui-Gon said leading them out toward the dining hall. "Do you need to return to the Healers today?"

"Um, yeah, that would be good."

Qui-Gon pointed down a hallway. "It's just down there, when we get done eating."

Luke nodded, grateful for the directions. They made it to the dining hall, and sat down with their breakfasts. "Where is Obi-Wan?"

"He has some classes that he needs to attend as often as possible. I sent him off earlier, and he's probably just getting there. How was your Master doing when we left?"

"Better than expected. For a while we thought he wouldn't make it, but he's going to pull through."

"Good. You're going off without him won't upset him will it?"

"No. He's got Yoda to talk to, and still a lot of healing to do."

"Your Bond runs strong. You should have little to worry about on this mission."

"Tell me about this mission."

"We are headed to Naboo because the Neimoidians, a part of the Trade Federation, have blockaded the Planet. We hope to resolve this peacefully, but it's possible that it could devolve into war."

Luke just nodded, nearly finished with his breakfast. Qui-Gon rose, having finished his, saying, "Good luck to you, Luke. I will see you at the end of the day."

Luke finished the last couple of bites, and headed out the door.

* * *

The Queen arrived in her throne room with her handmaidens. "Captain Panaka, what is the status of this ridiculous blockade?" She asked as she sat down in her throne.

"We have been unable to convince the Trade Federation that they need to leave," the captain said, shaking his head.

Governor Bibble added, "We heard from Senator Palpatine earlier, and he promised that he would let us know how the presentation to the senate went this morning. He should be contacting us any moment."

"Good," the Queen said. "Are the supplies that we have left being distributed evenly to all regions, Governor?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We are doing our very utmost to ensure that everyone is getting what they need."

The holographic projector came on, showing Senator Palpatine. "Your Majesty," he said bowing.

"Thank you for taking time to inform me of what is going on today, Senator."

"It is my pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty. I have spoken with the Chancellor himself today in a private meeting, and he has assured me that he is sending his very best ambassadors to negotiate the situation for us, so that we may resolve this peacefully. They should arrive within the week. He told me he would send word when they are close so that we may know when this awful blockade will be close to ending."

"Thank you, Senator. Your service is an asset to this planet and your people."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I regret that I must leave you so that I may attend the General Assembly now. We will speak soon."

"Until then," the Queen nodded and the transmission cut off.

* * *

Anakin thought for a while about getting out of the suit once and for all. He didn't think it was a bad idea, but he also didn't think it was a good idea. Ambivalent about the whole idea, he pondered it until Master Yoda came in to see him.

"With Master Windu I have spoken, and more we need to know." Yoda said as he climbed onto his stool.

_What do you wish to know? Everything that I am is at your disposal. It is the least that I can do to make up for…_

"Crimes that committed are not, yet." Yoda interjected. "The Clone Wars, started have they not. Know what started them, do you?" The brisk change closed the subject.

_Oh, most certainly. Palpatine started it. He bullied or bought off the Trade Federation, allying them with some other factions, also bullied or bought off, and then had the larger group attack the Republic. I was embroiled in that conflict for most of my training. Just as everything was getting settled, insofar as Padmé getting into see Palpatine, who was Senator for Naboo at that time, while she was Queen, I think he talked her into the vote of no confidence for Chancellor Valorum. She called for it; I don't know whose idea it was though. I have never liked politics. I was busy at the Temple, getting tested, and Qui-Gon was saying that Obi-Wan was ready for his trials. The vote went quickly, from what I have gathered in the years since, both from my Padmé and from Palpatine. In mere minutes it was over. I would say that that event was the signal of the beginning of the end of the Republic, although the fall had been generations in the making. _

Anakin sighed, mostly suppressed by the mechanism of the Healer's breathing equipment. _I'm not sure what you could do to convince Padmé otherwise. She was headstrong at 14 and only got more so as the years progressed. _Fond memories of her at 14 and again at 27 flashed through his head. _The truth might be too much, and anything less would not be enough. The debacle of Palpatine's rise to Chancellor of the Senate was the beginning of the end; that is certain. He had his setbacks, of course. While his death knight, Darth Maul had been able to kill Master Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan was then able to kill him. He ruled for the next 10 years, talking the Senate into granting him more and more power, as he manipulated a Separatist movement into forming. The Separatists only knew Darth Sidious, and the Senate only knew the loyal, hard working Senator from Naboo, who had the mantle of leadership thrust upon him. He took Count Dooku as his next Apprentice, and though he was skilled at negotiating the path set forth by Palpatine, he was ultimately a stooge, just someone to hold the place required by his laws until I was strong enough to kill Dooku and take his place. He kept tabs on me, played the father figure, and drove a wedge between Obi-Wan and me, and encouraged my relationship with Padmé, once I was older and had been assigned to protect her again. I thought he was my friend, like a father. I was so mistaken, because he took from me every person I ever held dear, and then cackled gleefully at my own destruction. _

The battle on Mustafar showed clearly in his head, and Obi-Wan's words rang clearly, 'You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would, destroy the Sith, not join them. It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness. You were my brother, Anakin. I _loved_ you!'


	10. A grand entrance

**AN**: **I hope you all have enjoyed the first bit, and will continue to enjoy this as I transition into less familiar ground. I suppose that appropriately, I have 9 reviews for chapter 9, and I thank you all for reviewing.**

**JC--yes, this story is EPIC, and if I can get it done it will likely span all 6 movies. I'm glad you like it, but having only been writing it for less than a month, you should be able to a****ppreciate** ** that I haven't had much time to make it very long. **

**Pandora--as this is the very beginning, I feel that retelling is part of the whole; this should become evident as the story unfolds. We barely have the wrapper off!**

**JK13--The risk aversion that the Jedi exhibit is a part of their downfall, and thus something that must change. The fact that they never really knew what the real fight was about is something they must also deal with. **

**TriGemini--I won't be detailing the exact timelining for several reasons, but the information will get to the characters, and the results will be evident. I have yet to work out the balance of how Luke and Leia may still come into being without that event causing their father's downfall. **

**To everyone else: thank you for reading, and I'm always glad of reviews, and I hope that everyone continues to enjoy!  
**

* * *

Chapter 10

Palpatine strode into the Jedi temple, ostensibly to go see Master Yoda to ensure that the Jedi he was sending were the best in the galaxy to send to diffuse the crisis on Naboo. He wasn't particularly ready to have it diffused, but it was a small snag in his plans. He was really here because something like a clap of thunder in the force had happened yesterday. He wanted to investigate it personally. The odious little toad was probably behind it anyway. He had occasionally requested to speak to various Jedi, but had avoided one so powerful as Yoda. He regretted the necessity, because it was just possible that he was strong enough to sense the Dark Side in him, although he had taken thorough precautions against it.

"I need to speak with Master Yoda," he said to the Jedi manning the front desk. He thought Jedi were supposed to be powerful warriors, and here was one doing the work of a secretary.

"I am sorry, but Master Yoda has left word that he is busy for the foreseeable future. Last I saw, he was headed into the Healer's Hall."

Palpatine absorbed the information, and then asked, "What about Mace Windu?"

The Jedi tapped out a few keys on the keyboard in front of him. "No, I'm sorry, but he has requested that no one bother him for the next few days," he looked up apologetically. "Is there a question that you wanted to ask?"

Deciding that he would not get his answers today, he asked his question: "I wanted to know about these Jedi that he is sending to Naboo. I have heard that they caused the most outrageous incident last month," he let his concern for his planet show through clearly.

The young man snickered, "That they did. It's not their fault though. They always get into some kind of scrape, but it's mostly because no one bothers to call them into a situation until it is very desperate. Kind of like with Naboo." He shook his head sadly, "The Senate should have never passed those taxes, this wouldn't have happened then,"

* * *

Mace went quickly to the Healers Hall. He wanted to see Yoda, and also Yoda's other 'guest.' He felt uneasy about the whole situation, but saw no other recourse. It pained his heart to have something so vitally important need to be so well hidden. The ultimate doom that the two of them had spelled out, and were apparently here to prevent, by some strange method or machination, would not be well received. It was hard to imagine a world where the Jedi were outlaws, hunted to near extinction, but the picture that Yoda had painted him had been that bleak. 

As he was walking toward the door to the Healers, he saw Luke walking toward him from the direction of the dining hall.

* * *

Padmé attended to complaints brought before her that required her authority to answer, some things, she felt, were trivial, and some were more serious, but all of it felt tedious in the face of the Blockade. 

After much wrangling in the political arena, she retired to her quarters with her handmaidens. They assisted her with the removal of her elaborate clothing, and she donned an outfit identical to theirs while Sabé was clothed to play Queen. She double-checked in a mirror to ensure that all of the white make-up had been gotten off, and then went to her speechwriter.

"I am here to pick up the Queen's speech for this afternoon," she told the man.

"Mmmm. Here you are young lady." He peered at her over the top of his glasses. "Which one are you again?"

"Padmé," she replied.

"Ah, that's right. Let me know if Her Majesty needs anything else."

"I will do so," she said, and bowed to him, then headed back to the Queen's chambers, reading as she walked.

* * *

Luke was almost at the door to the Healers Hall when he saw Mace Windu. "Good morning, Master," he said politely. 

"Good morning, Luke," he said back, and then opened the door. "Let us see how everything is going."

"Certainly, Master," Luke didn't feel the strain that he felt when he was around Obi-Wan or Yoda, and was much more at ease with Mace than he'd been around anyone in a while.

They entered and went to the back where Anakin was.

* * *

Obi-Wan went to Lightsaber practice first, and spent an hour teaching younger Padawans and Younglings proper Lightsaber techniques and an hour learning from Knights and Masters, who readily taught him new and different things. There were no longer any Padawans who were better than he was in the Lightsaber, an indication that he was approaching the time that he might take his trials. Unsure that he was anywhere near to being ready for them, he put the thought off, saving the worry for another day. 

After a shower and a change of clothes, he prepared for his second class, Universal History. It could be rather tedious, but was actually usually pretty interesting. The unit that they were covering now was over the various political methods used throughout galactic history. There were two other students in the class that day, both recent additions to the ranks of the Jedi Knights.

The teacher had asked Obi-Wan to give a report that day, and he went to the front of the class, took a deep breath, and started:

"The Force has been studied on various worlds, including Had Abbadon and Ondos, among people as diverse as the paladins of the Chatos Academy, the Followers of Palawa, and the order of Dal Bendu. However, it is on the planet Tython that the study of the Force truly began to shape galactic history. On Tython, Force-users harnessed a positive energy that they called the "Ashla," or the light-side. Others who hungered for power through the Force, for "Bogan," or the Dark Side lashed out, creating a conflict known as the Force Wars," Obi-Wan said, starting his report, detailing major battles and philosophy guiding both sides of the century long conflict.

* * *

Yoda listened to Anakin tell his story, and saw the anguish that clearly showed on Obi-Wan's face in the image that Anakin was reliving, as he turned away from his friend. He sighed, tired from all of the exertions of the last day. Luke and Mace walked in then, and they held hope for the future, that this terrible fight would never have to take place. 

"Hello, Master Yoda," said Luke.

"Good morning, Jedi Luke," said Master Yoda.

Luke sat down next to his father, who was looking at him with piercing blue eyes that matched his own.

Mace sat on the other side of the bed. He began to ask a question when the Healer came in, and said, "OK, mister, time to get you out of that bed."

* * *

Qui-Gon had little time to think that day, as he went out, setting up transport, getting supplies ordered, sent, packed, getting his things and those of his Padawan ready, getting Luke's things into a case, and just packing everything that the boy had brought back—he would likely need it all. He had everything ready when a droid that had been sent to collect their luggage came to obtain it. The ship was ready, and he had logged the flight plan yesterday. That was the hard part about getting off Coruscant; it took about 48 hours to get a clear shot scheduled. Occasionally an opening would be available more quickly, last-minute cancellations, breakdowns that had to be rescheduled, but you could never count on it. They would be leaving an hour before dawn on the next day, and he was ready. Collapsing into his chair, he breathed a sigh of relief; going over in his head one more time the list of things that they had packed, trying to see if he was missing anything.

* * *

Anakin tensed reflexively as his door opened, revealing the Healer under whose care he had been placed. "OK, mister, time to get you out of that bed," She said to him. He looked at her. She might have been 5' 3", and might have weighed 120 pounds. He was not confident that she could do anything to move him, and he could not help with his circuitry so badly damaged. But, with Luke's help, and a good bit of luck they situated him inside of a hyperbaric chamber and closed it. She stayed inside with him, making the chamber rather cramped, but it allowed him to have the help that he needed to remove some of his chest plating, and to be able to eat, which he did gratefully. She shooed off the three other Jedi after Anakin was in place, saying that they could see him after she had finished some testing on him. 

She fed him with neat efficiency, and then started to work on testing his body. He endured her poking and prodding with an uncharacteristically stoic attitude. It was so out of character that he wondered at it, distracting himself by thinking about his attitude. Never had he been so patient, especially when he had been helpless, as he had over the last day, but his temper had yet to even begin to bother him. She was working on the circuits for his right arm, which was the least damaged of his limbs. She said that she thought she might get it moving if she could get a good look at it. He nodded, letting her idle chatter sink in, but not paying more attention to it than she demanded. He felt peace in his head, and peace in his heart, where once a maelstrom of emotions had raged. He reasoned that the changes wrought by bringing him to the light had enabled him to finally learn a bit of patience.

"There," she said, releasing his arm, "that should do it."

Anakin flexed his arm experimentally, and found that he did, indeed have full control over his right arm. "Thank you," he said in a hoarse rasp. "I wish to speak with Master Yoda and the others now, if you don't mind."

"Of course," she said, "but we need to finish the testing…"

He patted her hand. "That can wait until tomorrow, when Luke has left."

"Alright," she agreed unhappily, "but I will send Master Yoda and Master Windu away tomorrow if you aren't cooperative."

He agreed, and she left him quickly, trying not to disrupt his breathing too much.

Once he was sealed back in the chamber, she allowed Luke and Masters Yoda and Windu back into the room, and then left to analyze her collected data.

He pressed the button that allowed his voice to pass through the speaker. "Luke, I have some things I want to tell you before you leave for Naboo. I am sure you have questions for me. I have answered Master Yoda's; I should be able to handle yours."

"Thank you, Father. I have something to tell you first." He took a deep breath, "I had a dream last night."

* * *

Leia woke to a pounding head. She groaned, turning away from the light that was so bright to her eyes, burying her head in the pillow underneath her head. 

"Oh, no you don't. It's a lucky thing that you are alive," a female voice said. "The doctor needs to take a look at you."

"Where's Luke?" she asked, suddenly panicked by her inability to feel her brother's presence.

Confused, the voice answered, "You are alone."

Shakily, after she sat up with help, she asked, "What happened?"

Amusedly, the voice answered her, "you practically fell into my lap during an important meeting. You hit your head on the marble stairs to my dais, and the doctor thinks you might have a concussion." She sighed, and then continued, "The security detail is all atwitter because they cannot figure out where you came from. Do you remember how you got here?"

Leia could hardly remember anything past her own name through the pounding in her head. "I don't know. I don't even know where I am."

"You are in my palace in Theed."

"I don't know where Theed is."

"Naboo."

"Oh. I think I've heard of Naboo. I have never been here before." Then she remembered why she knew the name Naboo. It was the most closely guarded planet after Coruscant. Keeping the peace that so many years of being a princess had taught her, she did not betray the fear that the name of the place she was in brought her.

The voice laughed, and said, "I would certainly hope that you had heard of the place that you were at."

"Your Majesty, she seems fine. If she has a concussion, it is a mild one. She should not be allowed to sleep for more than about an hour at a time over the next day, but otherwise I will release her to you."

The light dimmed considerably, so Leia took the chance of opening her eyes. She saw the Queen of Naboo, she presumed, her hair done up elaborately, white make-up, with stylized dots on her cheeks, and a black mark on her bottom lip, in the center.

She had the oddest sensation when she looked at the Queen, as though she had met her before.


	11. Close

**AN: Thank you everyone for reviewing. I should be able to get Chapter 12 up this week-end, but I can't promise. To everyone who complains about how short the updates are, please understand that I typically write around a page (maybe two) a day in addition to my school work, so the length of the pieces is inversely proportional to how long it takes for me to write it. With the holiday coming up on Monday, I should have a bit more time for writing, but I also will have more homework. **

**That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter, which is slightly longer than the last one. **

* * *

Chapter 11

Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were loading into a ship to head to Naboo when Senator Palpatine walked up to them. They greeted him kindly, but quickly went back to their final checks. "I wanted to wish you luck in solving the crisis my planet is facing. The Queen is most distraught at this turn of events, as am I," he radiated concern, and it showed in his face.

"That is most kind of you, Senator." Qui-Gon said, standing up from the panel that he had been checking close to the keel of the ship.

Obi-Wan walked up to him from the back side of the ship. "That leaves just one thing," he said pointedly to his master.

"Ah, so it does." He closed his eyes in concentration briefly, and then said, "He is almost here."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Finally. We've been ready to go for an hour."

The door from the Temple hissed open, revealing a Jedi with shaggy blonde hair, headed toward them at a fair clip. He was watching his feet and not them, but then skidded to a stop after he looked up a few feet away from them.

"Good, you're here," said Obi-Wan, not noticing the quickly suppressed spike of fear that ran through Luke.

Recovering quickly enough, the young man ran his fingers through his hair, and said, "Yeah. Let's get out of here."

"Once again, please take my best wishes to have this ordeal behind us," Palpatine said, offering his hand to Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon politely shook it, and then Palpatine turned to Obi-Wan and the new Jedi. Obi-Wan took his hand, and shook it, as did the young man. Strangely, he got no sense of him through the force as he shook his right hand, but then clapped the boy on the shoulder, and got more than he bargained for. The boy's power flared through him like a knife, making him stumble as he released him.

One corner of his mouth turned up as the young man realized the effect he had caused. "Goodbye, Senator. We will take care of your planet for you." He walked up into the ship, pressing the button to close the door, leaving Palpatine in stunned silence.

* * *

Mace Windu was speaking with Yoda when the communicator went off. Yoda shuffled over to it. "Encountered problems already, have you Jedi Luke?" He said to the face that appeared before him.

"No, not really Master. I was walking out to the ship after I went and said goodbye to my father, and Palpatine met us there. It shook me up. I wasn't expecting him."

"Worry not about it, Luke. Little there is for Palpatine to do to you at the moment," he said to Luke, then, satisfied with the response that he got out of the boy, he turned his comm off. "Worrisome it is that he would venture out to see off this departure." Yoda shook his head as he went back to sit on his pillow to talk more with Mace.

"It wouldn't even be out of character though. He does come from Naboo."

"Humph. Matter not does that. Matters that he is the Dark Lord, it does."

"We shall see. Maybe we can unravel his plans if we can just find the right loose strings. Anakin can help us with that, I hope."

* * *

Padmé was bothered somewhat by their strange visitor. Captain Panaka had finally cleared her, saying that, while she could be dangerous, she was not an immediate threat. She felt as though she were someone she should know, but it was not unlike a dream she was trying to remember after waking up.

The little toad Nute Gunray, whose meeting Leia's arrival had interrupted, was calling again, and she needed to attend to him, no matter how ridiculous she thought he was.

She sat down in her throne, surrounded by the people who would need to hear this anyway. "Viceroy," she said, calmly collected. "I have been assured that we will not be interrupted further."

"Your Highness, I hope the Senate sees fit to remove the tariffs that they so rashly passed, as your own Senator sponsored those tariffs, so your planet suffers now."

She paused for long enough to make the Viceroy uncomfortable. "I trust Senator Palpatine did what he felt was right. The days of the Trade Federation bulling systems is over, Viceroy."

"But Your Highness, this is the only way…"

"Enough," she snapped at him, cutting off his diatribe, "This is a sovereign planet and will remain so. Your threats will be answered for in the Senate." She signaled that the transmission be cut off; she was tired of dealing with the unreasonable demands.

Leia, who had been watching the proceedings from the sidelines said, "I have a suggestion, if you want to hear it."

* * *

Obi-Wan was happy to be in space. It was flying, yes, but it was good flying. They were on their way to help others sort out their differences. It was his favorite type of mission. He headed off to the back of the ship, where Luke and Qui-Gon were practicing some basic forms. He had odd ways of doing some of them, but it wasn't like he had been able to practice everything that he was supposed to, being on Dagobah for the last 5 years and his Master being so ill. The door opened to the back room, revealing the two of them in the beginning stage of a form, and Obi-Wan dropped into line, having not missed more than two of the positions. He felt peace as he reached out to the Force, through each movement. He watched Luke and Qui-Gon each doing the same, and watched them through the force as well. Luke's Force Signature was much less rough just in the one day that they had been in space.

"Alright, enough warm up," Qui-Gon announced, "I want to see how much you have improved in the Soresu Technique. You've had since yesterday morning to practice."

Luke groaned, taking up his Lightsaber, getting into the stance that marked the beginning of the Form. Obi-Wan grinned. This was his favorite form, and he excelled at Soresu like no other form. He got into stance, prepared for another easy battle.

"Remember, only the moves of the Soresu." Qui-Gon said, and gave the signal that they should start.

Luke did not fall for the same tricks that he had yesterday, and Obi-Wan was soon hard-pressed to keep himself inside the ring. Luke turned a trick that he had used the day before around, using it to push Obi-Wan out of the ring.

Qui-Gon shot his Padawan a look, "Very good, Luke. That was much better than yesterday's practice," he stood against the wall, not moving. "Again," he commanded.

Obi-Wan, not nearly so confident, took his task seriously this time.

* * *

Yoda spent some of the day dealing with some administrative matters that he had not been able to take care of due to the precedence of the arrival of the two wayward Jedi. Anakin was in the care of the Healers, Luke was in the care of Qui-Gon, and he had a bit of time to himself. He ensured that things would move along smoothly while he dealt with some other matters stemming from his discussions with Anakin. But first, he hadn't seen to his younglings in two days. He missed them, and he was sure that they had been missing him as well.

He walked into the room where the younglings were waiting for Lightsaber lessons. A cheer went up around the room, and one of the shyer little girls ran up to him and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you are back, Master Yoda," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "That awful Soara Antana took over while you were gone."

"And what is so awful about her?"

"She's not you."

Yoda smiled. The logic of a child, while never very logical, was always beautiful. "Back to your place then," he said, "Begin we will with the Shii-Cho Form." He began to instruct them once again in the eccentricities of the first form.

* * *

Luke had beaten Obi-Wan once in their Lightsaber duel, and Obi-Wan had won the second time, but by a much narrower margin than he had the first day. He didn't really count the first battle, and he thought that Qui-Gon hadn't either. Qui-Gon had made them go again, which he hadn't done the day before. Ben and Yoda had taught him some of the Soresu before he had gone to fight Vader, but that had been so long ago…

He shook himself out of his reverie, concentrating on going through the moves of the form again, remembering the way that Ben had described them to him. It was calming, peaceful. The Force was everything that Master Yoda and Ben had always described it as being, but had eluded him until now. He had been right about Vader, and had peace because of it.

Anakin had known Qui-Gon, apparently. Obi-Wan had never mentioned him to Luke. _I wonder why Ben never talked about him._ He thought about it as his body slipped into a routine within the motions of the Soresu. Anakin had mentioned something about him dying on Naboo. Maybe that was it. He died suddenly, and Ben had still felt the pain, all those years later. That didn't sound very Jedi-like. He pushed the thoughts away, focusing on his training again. He'd never had to work so hard in his life. It made him feel like a very low Padawan. He quirked a smile at that; he'd never been a Padawan, not the way that the ones at the Temple were. Distracted as he was by his thoughts, he decided it might be better to meditate for a while so that he didn't accidentally cut something off.

Anakin spoke with the Healer several times that day, as she tested out various theories and poked and prodded him until she had nearly made him loose his temper. He had little enough patience to begin with, but she had just pushed all his buttons that morning. He meditated, releasing a good deal of his anger, and realized that it was mostly frustration, from not being able to move about under his own power, not being able to help enough, not being able to do…anything. That was it. He needed to be able to do something, anything. She had promised that they would get his limbs all rewired today, and he would be able to move about. They had already fixed the damage to his mask. The damage that his body had taken from the Force Lightning was not bothering him much any more, and the damage that he had taken on Mustafar would not get worse in the next day or so, while they decided what they could do about it.

The Healer entered the room with a droid who would be doing the repairs that he required. He caught her hand, and said to her, "I am sorry that I lost my temper with you. I am just frustrated that I have not been able to move under my own power for two days."

"Oh, that's alright. Most of my patients push themselves too hard, and I have to tie them down so that they don't leave until their bodies are ready," she giggled. "This shouldn't take more than an hour or so, but I still can't let you go anywhere. Master Yoda must release you, before you can go traipsing about."

Anakin glowered at that from behind his mask. The droid did its work, and did it well. In short order he was up and about. The Healer came back in when the droid was finished. "I'm not sure what we can do with you. There is extensive scar tissue and damage to your lungs. It may never be possible for you to go around without some form of respirator," she said to him, being very straight up about the whole mess. "But there are some procedures that we can try in order for you to be less dependant on the mechanics. I'd like to start with those if you would like to try them."

Anakin thought about it for a moment. "Yes. I would like to be able to breathe on my own as much as possible."

She smiled back at him, "Good, we can get started then."

* * *

Qui-Gon was disappointed with his Padawan's performance but considering how easily he had beaten Luke the day before, he understood. Luke had made an amazing improvement in his abilities since the day before. Qui-Gon thought that possibly the next morning that Luke would be able to beat Obi-Wan fairly easily. He wondered about that, thinking that maybe Luke had just been rusty. His master was apparently in terrible shape, and had likely been that way for some time. Maybe Luke had been unable to practice. Surely he had learned all of the forms as a Youngling. Qui-Gon sighed, releasing his thoughts as he sank into a deep meditation.

* * *

Leia's eyes narrowed as the Queen of Naboo dropped a name that she was very familiar with, although not with the title she would have expected. Something was wrong with the universe, and she didn't know quite what yet. The Queen cut the man off, at about the same point that she would have. He'd had his say, and anything else that came out of his mouth would just be a repetition of his position. A thought was forming in her mind, one that she did not at all care for. "I have a suggestion, if you want to hear it," she said, and every eye in the room riveted on her.

Used to the attention, Leia was not bothered by it, although she hadn't had to say anything to an audience this large in a while. "If we can get around their blockade, you can negotiate from a position of strength. I doubt they have the resources to englobe the planet," she said, then asked, "do you have a map detailing the positions of the blockading ships?"

Captain Panaka stepped forward, "We do," he inserted a data chip into the main viewer. As he typed a few commands into it, a globe, and ships encircling the equatorial region popped into three-dimensional view. "They have ships above all of our port locations, here, here and here," he said indicating three glowing dots on the globe near the equator.

"It would be simple enough to leave via the polar regions, would it not?" she asked, "and be out of the system before they could blink."

"We have no ports at the poles," the captain began to protest.

"Nonsense. You don't need to have ports there. You just need the ships to fly within the atmosphere. Then, being that The Trade Federation cannot make the people of Naboo trade with them, are very weak in position, and should be much more willing to negotiate."

"It is possible that this will break the blockade. I will allow it," the Queen said, trusting this stranger, but not quite knowing why.


	12. A daring plan

**AN:** ennui deMorte: **Thank you for your really long and detailed Review! Due to your suggestion that Luke needed to have treatment for the Force Lightning I have inserted a few lines to that effect in Chapter 5, but being that I don't see that particular item affecting much else, it is there, just so everyone knows.

* * *

**

Chapter 12

Palpatine sat back in his chair, pondering this Jedi that he had never met before, never even seen before yesterday. He made a decision, and called his secretary. "Cancel all of my appointments for this afternoon."

"What? Of course, sir. May I ask why, sir?" the voice wafted back at him through the speaker.

He sighed, disliking the need of an excuse, but one readily came to mind. "The crisis on my planet is wearing on me. In my old age, I worry more than I should," his voice carried heavy worry, and fatigue. "I wouldn't be able to properly give my attention to what is on my agenda."

Understanding suffused the voice that returned, "Of course, sir. I will explain it for you. Don't worry about this anymore."

"Thank you," Palpatine said, letting relief color the tone of his voice this time. He cut off the communications, and then scowled at the communicator. He left his chambers in the Senate, hurrying off to the landing pad that held his personal aircraft, and headed off to see his Apprentice.

Once he arrived at the location that Darth Maul haunted, he pulled the hood of his cloak up and got out of his speeder.

* * *

Padmé watched the blips that indicated ships that were heading to the poles, trying to leave. So far, they had either gone undetected or were being ignored, because the ships circling the equator had not moved. 

The entire council watched the 3D projection in front of her, and she held her breath as the ships from all three space ports converged on either pole, but still the Trade Federation's ships did not react. The ones at the North Pole took to space first, getting just as far out as they absolutely had to before igniting their hyperdrives. The ships at the South Pole exited the gravity well and ignited their hyperdrives as well. As an additional precaution, the two fleets were headed in opposite directions. As the second fleet took to hyperspace a cheer erupted in the room, but was quickly toned down by the beeping of the communicator.

Captain Panaka checked it, and said, "It's the Viceroy."

Padmé's smile left her face, "I will speak with him."

* * *

Obi-Wan got up early that morning, to try to get some extra practice in, but Luke was already up. He looked up when Obi-Wan walked in. "Hi," he said, going back to the position he had been in. It was one of the harder ones to get right for the Soresu, but he had the position down exactly, though he had struggled with it the previous day. 

"You seem to have that one down," Obi-Wan said.

Luke looked at him, saying, "Yeah, I guess I do," he stood straight, "it's just a matter of practice."

"I know that Qui-Gon would have my hide if I didn't practice enough to suit him. I think with you to compare me to he will reconsider how much practice I need."

Luke grinned just a little bit at that. "That's not really a fair comparison."

"Oh, don't I know it. I wish I could do what you do."

Luke tilted his head, "what do you mean?"

"You only take one try to get a new move down, even if it's complex."

"I've seen most of it before," Luke said, shaking his head, "I just haven't had the practice you have."

"That's just it. You don't seem to need practice, just a quick lesson on what you're doing and off you go. You've gone from barely functional to near mastery of the Soresu in _two days._" Obi-Wan laughed, "Maybe Master Windu could teach you the Vaapad style. He's always looking for promising new students."

"That's something to think about," Luke said, wondering what "Vaapad" was as he had never heard of it. He'd learned more about the old order here in two days than the six months he'd spent with Yoda. "I'm going to go eat breakfast. Care to join me?"

* * *

Yoda sat down for conversation with Mace and Anakin, with a large timeline on a data pad. It spanned the next 40 years, and Yoda and Mace were trying, with Anakin's help to pin down important dates. 

Anakin paced restlessly back and forth in front of them. "I just don't know what was important, politically, or otherwise," he complained, wishing he'd really paid more attention to Padmé's diatribes about what was going on in the Senate. "I can tell you when certain things happened, but not how important they are in the overall timeline. There are some things that might seem important, but really have nothing to do with anything."

"Understand that we do already," said Yoda, "but try we must to make sense of what you know, and quick we must be, it appears."

"You are right, Master Yoda, of course." He sighed, releasing some of his frustration, "Let's start with a general outline, peg in some events that I can use to tag other events to." He ran the timeline up a bit, adding information as he went. "Here is the date for Master Qui-Gon's death," Yoda winced seeing how close to the present that event was but continued watching as Anakin's finger moved forward with each event, "My first mission with Obi-Wan, the day I went to obtain the crystal for my first Lightsaber, the day of my Knighting, the day my mother died, the day of my Wedding, the battle above Coruscant, the destruction of the Temple and the day of my battle on Mustafar." He noticed that the day after it had a notation. It said "Luke's birth".

* * *

Daultray Dofine sat in the cockpit of the flagship of the Trade Federation's blockade, his ship, the _Saak'ak_, bored by the lack of action, and worried about the whole blockade. Lord Sidious had ordered it, and he really disliked the man. Sith Lords were scary business. He watched the planet sending more ships north and south, feeding their people, he supposed, but they didn't stop at any of the settlements. Alarmed, he called back into the ship for Nute Gunray. 

The Viceroy hurried to see what the captain wanted. He arrived in the cockpit just in time to see the first fleet of ships leave the atmosphere, and head into hyperspace. He sputtered for a moment, but before he could collect himself, the fleet leaving to the south exited into hyperspace. "Get the Queen on the communicator," he snapped as he sat down in the empty co-pilot's chair.

* * *

Luke entered the galley, planning to scrounge up something to eat, but that was unnecessary, since Qui-Gon was there, cooking for the three of them. 

"Mmmm," Qui-Gon looked up to see Luke coming in and asked, "Good, are you hungry?"

"Starving." Luke said, going around to the table, allowing Obi-Wan into the room.

"And my very young Padawan?" he said to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan scowled. "Yes."

"Good," he said, seeming to ignore Obi-Wan's scowl. Getting out dishes, he portioned out their food, and handed a dish to each of the two of them, then picked up the third one, taking it to the table, where forks had already been laid. Luke was impressed with the older Jedi's cooking; it almost beat his Aunt Beru's.

* * *

Anakin froze inside at the words on the screen. He was dead certain of the day of his battle with Obi-Wan. It had been early in the standard day, very early. Luke could not have possibly been born on the next day, unless… 

His fist slammed into the table before he even realized that he had moved. Startled, he looked at his hand, "I'm sorry. I just realized that something I was told was a lie. Not that I should have expected any better," he released his anguish into the Force, letting the fact that he really _hadn't_ killed Padmé in his rage sink in. Irrefutable proof or at least something close, was staring him in the face. The existence of his children was close enough. He should have realized a long time ago that Padmé hadn't died at his hand, but he had failed to see even that much truth, so far into the Dark Side he had fallen. He laughed at his own trust in his untrustworthy master. Even when Palpatine had explained that Obi-Wan must have taken the child from her dead body, something didn't seem right with it.

After taking a few minutes to compose himself, he said, "Let us continue," He started to detail items that filled in the calendar and their significance, sometimes still leaving gaps of months, especially in the earlier years.

"Your decent into darkness, when did that start?" asked Master Windu.

Anakin blinked for a few seconds behind his mask, thinking about it. "When I came back from searching Tythe with Obi-Wan to find the identity of Darth Sidious, and it led us back to Coruscant, home, and the battle above Coruscant, where I killed Count Dooku. Then, once we got back to the surface I found out that Padmé was pregnant. That night I had a nightmare. That was the first really bad day. There were a few other things, which I suppose might have been signs, but more of the possibility that I could fall, rather than steps on my way," he thought about it, changing his mind, "No, that isn't right; it was my mother's death. She had been captured by Tusken Raiders on Tatooine; she died in my arms, and I lost all control. I slaughtered the whole tribe, the men, the women and the children; that was when I really started down the path to darkness."

"About each of these things you will tell us, as well as each event that followed on your descent," Yoda said, in a tone brokering no argument.

* * *

Leia watched, anticipating the upcoming conversation. At the Queen's signal, Panaka turned the communicator on, and she could see him on screen from where she was standing, with Amidala's handmaidens. She was not as adept at reading the faces of Neimoidians as she was some others, but he really was quite upset and it showed. 

"You have something to say, Viceroy?" the Queen asked icily.

"You may have been able to get ships off of your planet, but they will not be able to return, I will see to that."

"I do not know what you are talking about, Viceroy. Please explain yourself."

"The ships that you just sent off planet!" he said, getting more and more enraged as their discussion went on. "You have to be aware that dozens of ships just left your planet."

"Several dozen ships leave each of our space ports each hour, Viceroy, even with your blockade. Am I to see to each of them?"

Confused, he started again, "Your Highness, several ships just exited the atmosphere at each pole, and took off into hyperspace. They were your ships, and they will not be allowed to return to this planet."

"Really, Viceroy," Amidala said. "I will investigate this matter for you, since you seem so inclined to believe that I had something to do with it. I imagine that what we will find is that some of those who were stuck here because of your blockade wished to exit the planet so that they could continue with their lives. Good-bye, Viceroy," she raised her hand, a sign to cut off the transmission.

"Captain, you have the records ready for transmission to the Trade Federation?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I have them ready."

"Send them in pieces, over the next hour."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, turning to leave.


	13. Transitions

**AN: **TriGemini:** I promise that Anakin remembers almost everything, although he may disregard events as unimportant. **

Rose-Aislin: **They are feeding them the information that corrisponds to what she told him.**

LunaticPandora:** You have become the voice of Panaka for this chapter, as you are right, there is no logical reason for Padme to want to have anything to do with Leia, except the whole she's her daughter thing. **

ennui deMorte: **Luke swimming...it will be entertaining, to say the least. **

* * *

Chapter 13

Palpatine walked across the landing pad to the door. He waited just inside the door for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. A voice hissed from the darkness beyond the pale light of the doorway, "Master," the word echoed in his mind, "I had not expected you today."

"Something has happened, my Apprentice. I felt a great disturbance in the Force two days ago. It occurred in the Jedi Temple. I wished to see Yoda yesterday, to see if I could glean anything of it from him, but he is refusing all visitors; Mace Windu as well."

"You wish me to see to it, Master?"

"Yes. I also wish for you to see what you can find out about this Jedi that was traipsing around with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi yesterday. I have not seen him before." Palpatine produced a datadisc, and handed it to his Apprentice, who now stood before him.

"I shall find out everything there is to know about him, Master."

* * *

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, preparing for his fight with Luke. Then it began. It was like a fight for his life, only more, harder somehow, as though this were more important. He blocked a wide slash coming in from the right side, parrying it and countering with a jab toward center, Luke's strength still impressing him, but a quick turn of his wrist, and Luke had his Lightsaber up to block. He was forced into a series of parries then, block, slash, turn, block again. He failed time after time to gain the upper hand against Luke, but Luke missed opportunities he could have taken to finish the fight. This was of small comfort to Obi-Wan however as he had his hands full defending against what Luke didn't miss. He was glad to see that in spite of his partner's amazing knack with the Lightsaber, he was still an inexperienced duelist. He jumped over one of Luke's cuts, allowed himself to go into a flip with a half twist, not easy with the low ceiling. He landed facing Luke's back and struck, only to meet Luke's blade. Luke then dropped and performed a sloppy leg sweep which Obi-Wan was able to evade easily with another flip. Obi-Wan then landed on Luke's back, nearly sending him out of the ring, but that turned out to be his undoing as Luke grabbed his ankles and flipped Obi-Wan off him, out of the ring. 

"Good match," Luke said, holding his hand out to show that there were no hard feelings and honestly wanting to be friends with Obi-Wan, no matter how much he wierded him out.

"I don't understand how you did that," Obi-Wan said, ruefully, but taking his hand.

"He did it because you let him do it," Qui-Gon said. "He would not have been able to do that if you hadn't decided to show off your Force Acrobatics."

"The fight was taking so long. I wanted to try to press an advantage."

"And now you have discovered the weakness of the Soresu. It is a defensive technique, and to use it for offense is for the most part a waste of time," Qui-Gon said, grinning. "But don't think that I have been wasting your time with this exercise. It has improved the Techniques of both of you, Luke more than you, Padawan."

Luke ducked his head, embarrassed, "Only because I've had farther to go."

* * *

Padmé, once again disguised in her handmaiden outfit, headed out to the gardens, but on her way there Captain Panaka stopped her, "Padmé?" 

"Yes, captain what can I do for you?"

"Come with me," he said, taking her by the arm and leading her down the hall into his office. "You will explain yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"This Leia person, who is she, and why are you all of a sudden taking up for her, when she interrupted delicate negotiations, and could have seriously injured you?"

Padmé sat back, not expecting that question, " She's done nothing but try to help, Captain, besides the interruption does not seem to have been deliberate on her part," she answered after a few moments to think about the question, "She just seems trustworthy. I can't explain it any better than that."

"I don't like it. She is an unknown element, and the timing of her appearance is highly suspect. She could be a threat."

"She has done nothing to earn our distrust, Captain. I understand that you are concerned for my safety, but I do not appreciate the tone that you are taking with me. I am the elected leader of the people, not you."

"I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, and while it is true she has not earned our distrust, she also has done nothing to earn our trust, either."

"You are being paranoid, Captain. Until she does something that would indicate that she is a danger," She said.

"It's my job to be paranoid," Panaka interjected.

"I wish to keep her here. That is final."

"She's not a pet, Padmé."

Looking out into the gardens as she spoke, Padmé answered, "But I feel like she belongs to me, nonetheless."

Panaka sighed and didn't press the issue any further.

* * *

Yoda walked into the classroom where his younglings awaited him; he was happiest teaching Lightsaber classes. He watched his class go through the Shii-Cho. They had a good grasp of it now, after weeks of training. "Good morning, class," he said cheerfully, as they finished their first set of routines under Soara Antana. 

"Good Morning, Master Yoda," the class said brightly, in unison.

Soara shook her head, "I suppose that is my cue to leave, Master Yoda. I have not seen them this happy since I arrived in their classroom to teach them three days ago."

"Too bad it is that like you they do not," Master Yoda said to her, but quite loud enough for all the students to hear, "for when Padawans they become, their only teacher you will be, in the art of the Lightsaber."

A smile crossed her face as she realized the ruse he was pulling. "Quite right, Master Yoda," she said, "I would have hoped when I was a Youngling I would have had the chance to meet the Padawan's Lightsaber Master. I suppose I will have to go rescue my Padawans now, Master Windu has taken over the class in my absence, and you know what a grouch he is in the morning."

"See him before breakfast many mornings I do. Coming to lessons with the Tris Clan, much better for an old soul, it is," Yoda told her, and she left, waving good-bye to the children.

Yoda turned to his class. "Good is your Shii-Cho form, today. Start the Makashi form will we, this afternoon."

The class seemed to be of a mixed opinion about this, some groaning, some with big smiles on their faces.

Yoda ignited his Lightsaber and held it down, out to his side. "The opening stance, this is," he said as the class began their lesson.

* * *

Qui-Gon was impressed with Luke's defeat of his Padawan. It was clear that Luke was better with a Lightsaber than Obi-Wan, because Obi-Wan had made mistakes, and had continued to make mistakes throughout the battle. Luke had made his share, but once he realized it was a mistake to do something, he didn't do it anymore. 

Qui-Gon prepared to start them on the Ataru after the fight was over, when Luke knocked Obi-Wan out of the ring because he had tried some fool acrobatics _again_ and Luke had taken the opportunity presented.

"Now, since neither of you seem to be open to the Living Force, as you are supposed to be, you will try this again."

"The Living Force?" Luke asked, puzzled.

Qui-Gon threw his hands up in disgust, "Yes, boy, the Living Force. Did your Master teach you nothing?"

"I learned what I needed to survive," Luke said, "before…" he trailed off, realizing what he'd been about to say, _Ben died._

Qui-Gon sighed. Something about this child, for at that moment, child he was, lost without the guiding force that had prevailed in his life, tugged at his heartstrings. "Since both of you apparently need reminded as to what the Living Force is, and what you are supposed to do with it, I suppose that will be our lesson for today."

* * *

Anakin was to remain still during some procedure that the nurse had explained to him. He only half understood what she was saying, but, with everything that had been going on in the last few days, he felt the need to meditate anyway, so he did. As usual, his attempts at meditation were met with mixed results, Anakin found his thoughts drifting. How were they here? Why were they here? Were they supposed to stop what was going to happen? If they did, how would that affect the future? 

He tried not to think about it, but his thoughts kept coming back to why they had been brought here. There must have been a purpose in it. There was no way that he could stand by and watch himself make the same mistakes over again, and if it was possible, the suffering caused by the Clone Wars needed to be stopped. He didn't see how he could possibly stand by and watch as millions of people and hundreds of Jedi gave their lives to a war created out of sheer hatefulness for the rest of the world, one orchestrated by a madman.

* * *

Luke finished his meditation with the Living Force. It was quite simple, since he hadn't known there was any other kind of Force. Maybe he should ask Master Yoda about that when they got back. 

He looked up to see Obi-Wan still trying to achieve the peace that contact with the Living Force brought. He stood up, and Obi-Wan opened his eyes at the noise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your meditation."

"That's Ok, I wasn't really getting anywhere with it anyway."

"Why not?"

"I have never had the best of luck with the Living Force. I learned to meditate with the Unifying Force, and that is just easier for me."

"Ok."

"So, tell me, who was your Master?" Luke's blood turned to ice at the question, not that he hadn't been expecting it; he just hated having to answer the questions.

_Keep it simple._ He told himself. "His name was Ben. I doubt you'd know him, he hasn't been around the temple for a long time." _Like since it burned._

"What in the world were you doing on Dagobah?"

He hadn't expected that question, and really had no answer for it. _Simple._ He repeated to himself. "That was where my master chose to have my training, for a while."

"I don't remember ever seeing you around the Temple before."

He thought about the answer for a while, finally deciding on a bit of truth. "I have never been to the temple before; I was quite old when Ben took me on."

"Really? So were you 8, 9?" Luke nodded his assent. "You should have more of this down than you do."

"It wasn't long after that…" he didn't want to talk about Ben dying to Obi-Wan.

"Qui-Gon told me that your Master had almost died, he didn't know much more detail."

Luke sighed, "It's just been so difficult. It was easier, somehow, on Dagobah." He thought about the lessons with Yoda, and Artoo's constant commentary on the situation.

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes, I can see in your eyes that you've seen more than you'd like to have. Whatever happened, it must've been horrible."

Luke couldn't help but smile at the young man who would become the wisest being he ever knew, other than Master Yoda, "Yeah, a lot of it was bad, but there were times that were pretty good too. Unfortunately I'm under orders from Master Yoda not to discuss the details."

* * *

Leia waited on the sofa. The Queen had brought her to her dressing chambers, and then left her alone as they all went into another room. One of the girls, a handmaiden, but for the life of her, she would have sworn that it had to be the Queen, came out, and headed out the door. Leia shook her head, and got up, wandering over to look out the window. She would do it, too, if she were Queen. Dress as a servant, and let one of them take her place. It would be easy enough, considering how much make-up the Queen wore, and the many-layered outfits that seemed to be standard. She smiled as she looked out onto a garden, letting her mind wander, and it settled finally on her mother, the warmth that she had felt in her arms, and the joy, and the sadness. Luke had asked her about her mother, the last time that she had seen him, before he'd gone to face Vader. She wondered what had happened to him, because she didn't feel like he had died, just…vanished. He was gone somewhere she couldn't follow, but then, after she had gone to sleep that night, she woke up falling into the Queen of Naboo's lap. Maybe whatever had happened to Luke had dragged her along, too. Maybe she could find him. The thought that her brother might be out there in the galaxy comforted her. She wasn't alone. She might never find him, but she wasn't alone anymore. He always seemed to be getting into more than he could handle without her. It might do good to find him quickly. 

"If you would like, you can go out into the garden. Padmé always likes walking in the garden." One of the handmaidens said, and at Leia's confused look, she added, "I am Yané."

"It's not that, really. I wish I could go home. The gardens there were always so beautiful." She commented, turning back to the window, and the idea that had formed earlier poking its head out.

"Where is home?" Yané asked.

"Alderaan, but I don't know if I'll ever see it again."

"Why ever not? It's not that far away."

"Oh, I don't know, just a feeling that I get sometimes. It's been 6 years since I've seen home." _Shattered, destroyed. But is it that way anymore? Surely not, with her saying how close it is. Father, will you even know me?_ The feeling hit her in the pit of her stomach as she looked out to the sky overlooking the Palace, wondering if maybe someday she would be able to see Bail again.

The door opened and the handmaiden who had left returned. "The Queen will be needing me," Yané said.

"I will be there in a little bit, Yané."

"I will inform the Queen, Padmé," Yané said.

"Thank you," Padmé said, and Yané left the room.

"So, you are certainly the talk of the Palace, which is saying something with the blockade going on," Padmé said.

"Do you think they plan to invade, Your Highness?" Leia asked, seeing right through the disguise.

Padmé was startled, "What….how did you know?"

"Easy, it's what I would have you doing if I was in charge of security around here. It serves two purposes, it redirects those who would mean you harm and it lets you relax and NOT be royalty for a while," Leia explained.

"Is it that obvious?" Padmé asked, obviously concerned.

A small laugh escaped her. "No, its not, most people wouldn't have noticed. I'm familiar with security procedures is all, in addition to a Jedi heritage. It gives me a slight edge even though my brother hasn't had a chance to train me yet. In fact it was just before I showed up here that I had found out."

"Really? I thought it was forbidden for Jedi to have children."

"I really don't know much about my parents. I was raised on Alderaan as a member of the House of Organa. My mother died shortly after I was born."

A voice called down the hallway, "Padmé, we need to get going, we can't be late!"

"I have to go, but we will talk again soon," she said, taking off toward the voice.

She looked out the window again, missing desperately her family, her father, her brother. There was a strange empty place in her heart where she missed Han. She did not miss Darth Vader, and she hoped fervently that Luke had been able to see clearly at some point, and kill the rotten bastard.


	14. Negotiations

**AN: Thank you everyone who is enjoying and reviewing the story. I hope you're understanding with Leia, as she's been in the past less than a week, and the last thing that happened to her was the battle on Endor.**

TriGemini: **Glad you liked that part. I was hoping that it didn't come off as being too cheesy. **

Rose-Aislin:** Yes, Leia has a great deal of hate that she has spent 25 years building up, and has had about a week to get used to the fact that someone so universally reviled is her _Father._ So not only is she supposed to actually deal with him, but she is probably going to have to deal with him a lot. She's just not quite ready for that shocker. **

Teresa:** That's the whole point! Major messing in Palpatine's sandbox. **

Jedi Knight 13: **Next chapter. **

Wuff: **Qui-Gon isn't going to be asking anyone to promise to train Ani, but that will unfold in its own time. **

Lily Dragon:** Yes, when Luke told Leia that she was his sister, and that he was going to the Death Star to confront Vader, because he was his father, I think she could take the hint. **

Lunatic Pandora: **Leia is not bitter, she's adjusting. Well ok, maybe she's bitter, but not without reason. **

fictionfrek101: **Leia is quite harsh, but in her estimation, Vader is responsible for killing her father, Bail Organa, and she's not totally used to the idea that Vader had anything to do with her existing in this universe. She's going to lighten up considerably as her world sets itself to rights.

* * *

**

Chapter 14

Qui-Gon sat in the cockpit as they dropped out of hyperspace. They approached the Federation ship, and the Captain opened communications with them. "What is the purpose of your vessel's being here?" came the voice of Nute Gunray.

"Captain," Qui-Gon said.

She turned to him, "Yes, sir?"

"Tell them we wish to board at once," he said, and headed off to the back to make sure that Obi-Wan and Luke were ready.

She turned back to the Viceroy, saying, "With all due respect, the Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately."

"Yes, yes, of course," he replied, "As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the Ambassadors." Then the transmission cut off.

* * *

Mace Windu watched as Anakin sat back in his chair, exhausted by the extensive questioning that he had undergone. "That is everything I can think of." 

"Let us begin with detailed accounts of what is going to be happening in the next two weeks. Start with the account of Qui-Gon's death."

"We returned to Naboo with Padmé because she hadn't gotten any relief from the Senate. I was only 9, mind you, so some things that were important then are not important now, but I'll try to weed them out as best I can. Master Qui-Gon had taken me on as his Padawan despite the objections of the council to my training, and had told Obi-Wan that he was ready for his trials," He began.

* * *

Obi-Wan was ready, and Luke, and they prepared to exit the ship as soon as it was docked. The ship settled to the floor of the docking bay, and the captain opened the door. Silently the exited the ship, and were greeted by a protocol droid. 

"I am TC-14 at your service. This way please." They followed the droid down the hall into a conference room. "We are greatly honored by your visit, Ambassadors. Make yourselves comfortable. My master will be with you shortly. The droid bowed to them, then left. Obi-Wan lowered his hood, and Luke and Qui-Gon were doing the same. Luke headed over to the window, looking out to Naboo.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"I don't sense anything."

"It's not about the mission, Master. It's something…elsewhere…elusive."

"Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs." Qui-Gon turned to Luke. "You need to do that as well, it looks like."

"I-I, uh," Luke sighed, turning away from the window and going to sit down. "Yes, Master."

"Master Yoda said that I should be mindful of the future."

"But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the Living Force, my young Padawan."

"Yes, Master," He now walked over to the window. "How do you think the Trade Viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?"

"These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short."

Luke got up and walked over to the window. "Something isn't right."

"What do you mean?"

"It's something on the surface, something odd, out of place…"

"Don't let it cloud your judgment. We need to be here and now."

Luke turned away from the planet again, letting the feeling that was growing be pushed aside for the moment. "I will try harder to concentrate on what's going on here."

Obi-Wan headed over for the table, and Qui-Gon and Luke followed. "Is it in their nature to make us wait this long?" Obi-Wan asked, and the droid returned, carrying drinks and food.

"No…I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute." The droid offers the tray to each of them and they all took something off of it.

* * *

Palpatine had calculated the time that it would take for the Jedi to get to Naboo, and had cleared several hours out of his schedule for the purpose of being in contact with Naboo at that hour. He rested at his home on Coruscant, waiting for the Chancellor to contact him, so he could tell the queen, and order the deaths of three Jedi…His bemusement ended as the communicator demanded his attention. 

"Chancellor, it is so good to hear from you. Have the Ambassadors arrived?"

"Yes. I have received the transmission."

"Wonderful, I will inform the Queen that our planet will be saved!" He plastered an expression of beatific joy on his face. "Thank you so much, Chancellor."

"You are welcome, Senator. I will contact you when I have confirmation of an end to this dispute."

"Of course, Chancellor. I look forward to speaking with you again." Palpatine said, and the Chancellor cut the communications off.

He put up the hood of his robe, as the communicator beeped at him again. "What is it?" he asked harshly, knowing full well the whole story.

"This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished. We dare not go against these Jedi."

Tired of the constant contradictions, he ordered, "Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again." He waited for the offending party to leave, then said, "This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops."

The viceroy gasped. "My Lord, is that legal?"

He chuckled. "I will make it legal."

"And the Jedi?" the Viceroy squeaked.

"The Chancellor should have never brought them into this. Kill them immediately."

"Yes, My Lord, as you wish." Palpatine cut off the communications, immensely satisfied with that.

He flipped the communicator back on, contacting the Queen.

"Queen Amidala," he said, bowing to the screen. "The chancellor has been gracious enough to tell me that the Ambassadors the he sent have arrived in system, and even now should be arriving at an agreement with the Trade Federation."

"That is wonderful news, Senator Palpatine. I hold hope that this may be resolved today."

"As do I my Queen, as do I." He let the joyful triumph that he felt at the soon-to-be-dead Jedi soak through to his face. "I will contact you with any other news that I have."

"Thank you, Senator."

* * *

Yoda was becoming more convinced that the trip that he had sent Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Luke on was the fateful one where they met Anakin Skywalker. The Trade Federation was probably invading Naboo as they sat there talking, unable to do anything about it right then. It worried him, but he hoped they could do something about it soon. "Fall apart the invasion will without Darth Sidious." 

Anakin sighed behind his mask, "I understand that as well as anyone, but we must make sure that we are getting both of them, and that means that we need to at least wait until the Queen takes off for Naboo again, and Obi-Wan reports back that they have killed Darth Maul."

"The Death of Qui-Gon Jinn, by doing this you may allow."

"I think that at the very least, having Luke there will give him a better chance. I would go as well if you would allow it."

"Think on that I will. What of your younger self? Think on that you should."

"I don't know if I could stand it, being there, and having to look at myself at 9. Maybe he…I could stay here."

"Later we will make that decision. Obi-Wan in visions you have shown me, a great master is he, and being your master is the cause of that, I do not doubt."

Anakin was slightly thrown at that particular insight. "Your Master Obi-Wan will remain, if Qui-Gon lives. It brings greatness to you both."

"I would have never thought that the training of someone would bring greatness to someone."

"The rank of master, only given to those who bring a Padawan to Knighthood, it is. Very rare is it that a Master gains the rank through some other means." Yoda paused, summoning up another question, "The Queen's return to Naboo, for what reason is there?"

"The Senate tried to put off a discussion of the invasion with a call for a committee…"

* * *

Luke watched as Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon jumped up at a hissing sound, Lightsabers at the ready. One of them had knocked the droid back, "Sorry," mumbled the droid. With the failure of an attack materializing, they put their Lightsabers away. Luke stood up, going over to them. 

"Dioxin!" Qui-Gon said, as clouds of a yellowish green gas start pouring into the room from the ventilators. He took a deep breath, holding it as the gas surrounds them. The protocol droid headed out the door, probably to get cleaned up.

"Oh, excuse me." He heard through the fog.

"Check it out, Corporal," came the voice of another droid.

"Roger, roger," answered another droid voice. He ignited his Lightsaber, as did Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

"Uh-oh, blast them," said another of the droids.

He leapt into the fray, immersed in the Living force, knowing instantly where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were, as well as where they were headed. Luke went low while Obi-Wan went for the middle and Qui-Gon took high. They made short work of the droids there, and then headed in the direction of the bridge. Several more droids met their fates to the Jedi's blades on the way to the bridge. Luke could feel the fear coming from the bridge and had to stop himself from feeding on it. Never before in battle had he felt such pure fear coming off of an opponent. They held off more battle droids as Qui-Gon sliced at the door, trying to get through to the bridge.

"Master, Destroyers," Obi-Wan said as several wheel droids rolled up and prepared to fight them, their shields distorting the air around them. Qui-Gon watched as Luke and Obi-Wan start fending them off, but staying out of the conflict, hoping to get through to the bridge. More roll up from another hallway, leaving them only one exit. The Jedi parried blaster bolts from the destroyer droids and it was soon apparent that they had come to a standoff. "They have shield generators, and if we don't leave we may well get trapped." Obi-Wan said to Qui-Gon, who was concerned about trying to get onto the bridge.

Abandoning the door, Qui-Gon signaled to them, "Let's go!" They run, barely getting through a door that slamed shut behind them. Going up into a ventilation shaft, they made it to another part of the ship. At the vent of a hanger bay they stoped. " Battle droids," Qui-Gon whispered.

"It's an invasion army." Obi-Wan commented.

"This is an odd play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo and contact the Chancellor. Split up, and stow away on the ships headed for the surface. We'll meet up on the planet."

Before they parted, Obi-Wan had one more thing to say, "You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short."

* * *

Anakin spoke with the Healer again. She was disappointed with the progress that he had made as of his last treatment with her, but he brushed aside talk of trying something else, at least for that day. He was comfortable enough inside his suit, after a quarter century. He paced about, thinking. _I don't mind this, even being cooped up in the Jedi Temple, even if it's for the rest of my life. I could do it, and be happy, knowing that the events that caused everything bad to happen wouldn't get a chance this time around. But Luke? Would he be happy? What about Leia? Does she think us dead, on the Death Star? And surely Luke has friends, ones that he misses…

* * *

_

Leia stood with the handmaidens, dressed as a handmaiden, watching with narrowed eyes the image of Palpatine, the hateful traitor, as he told Padmé that the Ambassadors would be negotiating a treaty. She did not believe for one minute the monster that had caused her father to betray all he believed in was capable of telling the truth. She thought about the things that she knew of the man Anakin Skywalker, how he had been a hero in the Clone Wars, and tried to reconcile that knowledge with what she knew of Darth Vader. Her personal contact with him aside, he was a ruthless, conniving man. A thought fluttered across her mind, _that describes Han, too. _Han. A bitter taste formed in the back of her mouth at the thought that she would never get a chance to see him again. Her attention snapped back to the present as the Queen ordered Panaka to open a channel to the Viceroy. Leia listened as the slimy Neimoidian continued playing innocent. Leia couldn't understand how any kind of blockade could be considered legal by the Senate. Leia smelled a rat, she even knew the rat's name, but she couldn't reveal that now, the Queen placed too much trust in the slimy two faced Sith Lord and Leia had no evidence to support her claims. Leia was jerked out of her thoughts when the Queen said something about not condoning a course that would lead them to war. At that Leia had to speak up.

"Your Highness, if I may speak," Leia said.

"Of course, all opinions would be welcome," the Queen said.

"Thank you. I think we have to prepare any defenses you have and let the Trade Federation know that if they try landing anything that they will be shot down," Leia said, with the conviction of a warrior that knew battle was about to be joined.

"We don't have anything with those capabilities, and we have no army," Panaka said.

"You don't have anything to defend yourselves with?" Leia said with horror, remembering Alderaan.

"No, we don't. We never expected to need it," Panaka said.

Leia thought about the situation for a moment, unable to come up with a proper response. She looked out the window, momentarily distracted, and saw ships incoming. "I don't think it will matter much now anyway," she said, pointing out the window. "We are going to have bigger problems in a couple of minutes."


	15. Follow your heart

**AN: Wow, so many reviews! ****17! I'm so happy!**

fictionfrek101: **We will certainly find out eventually.**

Yoda:** I do not dignify that with an answer as it is your brain I pick for ideas most anyway, you silly man.**

ennui deMorte: **Glad that you are liking the story, and Leia is blaming Vader for just about everything at this point. She should be more rational about the whole "Darth Vader is my father" thing as she gets more accustomed to it. **

TriGemini, Jedi Knight13: **Luke and Leia will have a heart-to-heart, probably in Chapter 16, but depending, it may get put off. Then a good deal of the issues that they are both having should get resolved. **

Teresa:** Oh, Darth Maul is very good, and will find out most everything that there is to know about Luke. But, oh, well, you'll see. **

**Now go! Read the chapter!

* * *

**

Chapter 15

Palpatine decided that it was time to see his Apprentice again. He left his home, traveling to a public venue, where, once inside, he could slip, undetected, out the back. He knew that his apprentice had a spy network nearly as good as his own. They would inform him of his appearance in that place. Each public place that they had arranged had a private place where they actually met.

Walking through the crowded club, he headed toward the back room, intent on his goal. Once he arrived in the back room, a much quieter place, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and then headed out the dark alley way to his destination with his hood raised.

As he hurried down the alleyway, three men stepped out of the shadows, crude weapons at the ready. Not happy at having to deal with this…stupidity, he threw them into the wall, hard enough to kill them. This would be the last time he used this club. He rounded the corner, heading down the block and into a building.

"Master," Maul hissed from the darkness as he entered, "I trust you are well?"

"Well enough. What have you found for me?"

"I have found nothing. It is as though he did not exist until a week ago. I have a security holo of him with Yoda."

"Play it," he said, watching with narrowed eyes as Luke raked his hair back, obviously upset with something that Yoda had told him. Yoda sat on a cushion in his meditation chamber. Animated, Luke continued to explain things to Yoda, and Yoda listened and commented occasionally.

As it played, since there was no sound, Maul spoke. "This is from the day that you said you felt a disturbance at the Temple, about an hour later. I have found nothing to indicate that he existed before that time, and this is the only recording that I could find pointed in that direction. Yoda has no security cameras in his chambers."

* * *

Padmé rose from the throne. "We must go," she said, quickly heading for the dressing chambers. Working quickly, the six handmaidens got Sabé prepared to go meet the fate of the Queen, and Padmé once again dressed as an innocent handmaiden. When only elaborate hairdressing remained, and they would only be in the way, Padmé took Leia aside. "You were upset by something in the throne room," she said, making it a statement of fact rather than a question. 

"I…dislike Senator Palpatine."

"You have a reason for this."

"Yes, I remember him differently than he is now." Leia hesitated, unsure if the Queen would believe her.

"Go on."

"I remember him differently, I think, because I believe that I came to the past. That is how I ended up in your throne room."

"What is it about Palpatine that you remember and dislike?"

"He was the Emperor," she said, and it was apparent that the word carried much weight that it could not convey if a person had not lived through the events that Leia apparently had.

"We live in a Republic, how could he have done this?"

"It was years before I was born, and there was a crisis on Naboo, his home world," she started, closing her eyes and focusing on a memory, reciting the words, "and Queen Amidala escaped the Trade Federation with the help of two Jedi, and came to Coruscant. Palpatine asked her what she would do about the Trade Federation's blockade, and told her that the bureaucracy of Coruscant would not help her, and that in order to get anything accomplished she might have to call for a Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. She did not believe him at first, going to the senate, where the Trade Federation attempted to bog down the issue with calls for a Committee. When Palpatine told her that the bureaucrats assisting Valorum were under the pay of the Trade Federation, she felt that she had no choice but to call for the Vote. The ensuing chaos ensured the election of Senator Palpatine as Chancellor, a position he did not give up until 13 years later when he declared himself Emperor, shortly after the Temple burned."

Padmé gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "What?" Disbelieving shock showed clearly on her face. "What Temple?" She said with growing horror.

"The Jedi Temple."

Padmé said, "I don't believe you."

"You must not call for the Vote of No Confidence, Your Highness. It is the only way to ensure that Palpatine remains out of power."

"If what you say will happen comes to pass, what do you expect me to do?"

Padmé was surprised at what Leia said. It sounded like something that a Jedi would say, sort of. "Follow your heart."

* * *

Obi-Wan slid between the hull of the ship and the line of deactivated droids. It was uncomfortable and cold, but he had made it off the ship. The feeling of cold subsided as he felt the transport settle to the ground. The side panel opened, far enough to let him get through the crack. He headed out quickly, darting into the woods so that he could escape, and ran until he arrived at the edge of a lake. He heard no one behind him, so he dropped to one knee, contacting the Force. _Sithspit, _he thought as he contacted Qui-Gon's presence, practically dead ahead of him. He'd have to go around the lake, or across it. He tried to search out Luke's presence, but couldn't find it. He sent confusion to his Master on this, and Qui-Gon sent back an echo of the sense of where Luke was, which seemed to be in the middle. _I'd better get a move on. _He stood and started running again.

* * *

Anakin allowed the Healer to try some treatment, which she assured him that he would be able to breathe for short spans on his own, afterward. He settled into a meditative trance while she did so, as it did not appear to require his direct involvement, at least mentally. 

He achieved the state more quickly than he had the last time that he tried, and was slightly more successful with it. So after a whole five minutes, his mind started to wander, and settled on Luke. _Has he made it to Naboo? Are they with Padmé? _The thought of his son and wife together made him unconsciously reach across the stars. He brushed the consciousness of Luke's mind before he realized what he was doing.

_I'm trying to find Obi-Wan. _A pause. _Oh, never mind. He found me. _Luke's curiousity showed then, _I didn't know you could talk if you were so far away._

_Neither did I. I will let Master Yoda know that you are safe enough, on the surface. _He released the contact, breathing out, and realized that he didn't have his mask on. He opened his eyes, finding the Healer, standing in front of him, grinning like a fool. "It worked then?"

"Yes. You've been breathing on your own for about an hour."

"I suppose that's a good thing."

"You'll have to work your way up to doing it all day, but it shouldn't take more than a week or maybe two."

"I need to talk to Master Yoda," Anakin said as he got up, his voice still a raspy whisper from the damage to his vocal cords.

* * *

Luke realized that he was looking up, when he had to look down to see Obi-Wan. 

"There you are. What are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked, slightly annoyed.

"I, uh, nothing really. Where are we headed?" Luke asked, hoping to dodge the question.

"To Theed, as soon as Master Qui-Gon arrives," he said, trying to catch his breath.

Luke tried to sense Qui-Gon, and while he was close, he was very busy. "He's gotten into something, let's go," he said, trotting off in the direction of Qui-Gon, not waiting for Obi-Wan's answer.

As they run, their presence is picked up by several droid ships, which start to chase them. They ran faster, finding Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon deflected the bolts that were intended to kill him back to the ships that fired them, and they explode.

A humanoid got up out of the mud, "Yousa sav-ed my again!"

Obi-Wan, still slightly short on breath, asked, "What's this?"

Unhappily, Qui-Gon answered him, "A local. Let's go before more of those droids show up."

The local, started in again. "Mure? Mure, did you spake?" he ran, trying to keep up with the Jedi, intent on getting to Theed. "Ex-Squeeze me, but de mosta safest place would be GungaCity. Tis where I grew up. Tis a hidden city."

They stopped. "A city?" Qui-Gon asked, and the local confirmed it, "Can you take us there?"

"Um, on second taut, no, not willy, no."

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"Tis embarrassing, boot, uh, my afraid my've been banished. My forgotten dat da Bosses would do terrible tings to my. Terrible tings if my goen back dare." A bass rumble starts to grow as more droid ships converge on their location.

"You hear that?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Yeah."

"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things headed this way."

Obi-Wan jumped in, "If they find us, they will crush us, grind us into little pieces, and then blast us into oblivion."

"Oh. Yousa point is well said. Dis way! Hurry!" he ran into the water, trudging through a good bit of swamp.

"How much further?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Uh, wesa goen underwater now, okeeday?"

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon pull out breathing capsules, and after finding his, Luke pulled his out, too.

"And my warning yous. Gungans no liken outsiders, so no expectin a warm welcome."

"Today has not been our day for warm welcomes." Qui-Gon informed him.

They wade out as the Gungan was playing in the water. "Yousa follow me now, okeeday?"

Luke, with some trepidation, having only had the very most rudimentary lessons in how to swim, followed the other Jedi down into the water. He mimicked their movements, and knowing that with the breathing capsule, he wouldn't drown, he didn't have too hard a time finding a way to move through the water somewhat effectively.

He only caught glimpses of the city they were headed toward. It lit up the water beautifully, though. He watched as the other three melted through a barrier, and so he likewise was able to 'walk' into GungaCity.

Luke's attention was drawn to the local again. "Heyo dalee, Cap'n Tarpals, mesa back!"

Captain Tarpals, or the Gungan that Luke assumed was Captain Tarpals, did not look happy to see him. In fact he looked down right hostile. "Noah gain, Ja Ja. Yousa goen tada Bosses. Yousa in big dudu this time."

'Ja Ja' looked crestfallen, but moved along, although not fast enough for the Captain's partner, who zapped him with some sort of electric shock stick. "How wude," was his response. They followed the Gungans to see the Bosses.

Luke watched with Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon negotiated for their transportation, and for the release of Jar Jar. He paid little attention, though, centering on feelings inside himself, not really sure what they were. He followed in the wake of the other Jedi, paying only enough attention to his surroundings to keep from falling over things.

They got settled into a 'Bongo,' and prepared to leave the Gungan city, with Jar Jar in the driver's seat. He decided that he was getting nowhere with sorting out his emotions. "I'll drive," he offered.

Neither Qui-Gon nor Obi-Wan really objected, and so he got into the co-pilot's seat, and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon got in the back. Obi-Wan and Jar Jar talked about Jar Jar's banishment, and Luke could see why Jar Jar had been 'clumsy'; he failed to pay any attention to his driving as he was talking. Luke, with a subtle bit of Force-use, took control of the vehicle, since Jar Jar had 'let go' of the controls. They darted near a large fish, but it was quickly taken out by another, even larger fish. Jar Jar's commentary continued as they made it through several other winding passageways. It seemed that the larger fish had finished it's lunch, and was considering them for desert. They dipped down another passage, startling a fish, which promptly gets chomped by the fish that had been tailing them. Passing through a small opening, they head for the surface without any further interruption.

* * *

Governor Bibble outraged at the treatment of the Queen and her council, asked, "How will you explain this invasion to the Senate?" 

Nute Gunray assured him, "The Queen and I will sign a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. I have assurances it will be ratified by the Senate."

The Queen was not impressed by his assurances, "I will not co-operate," she told him.

"Now, now, Your Highness. In time, the suffering of your people will persuade you to see our point of view. Commander?"

A droid stepped forward, saying, "Yes, sir!"

"Process them."

Turning to another droid, he said, "Captain, take them to Camp Four."

The captain answered him, "Roger, roger," and headed off with the Governor, the Queen, her handmaidens, her personal guards, Leia and a dozen droids to guard them.

As they walked through the Plaza, the Jedi, along with Jar-Jar, jump down from above, dismembering half the droids in their first strike, and shortly dispatching the rest.

It was the first time that Leia had seen any Jedi other than Luke in action, and seeing him now, he was light-years beyond the skill he had displayed the last time that she had seen him pull out his Lightsaber. She was very impressed with the speed at which they dispatched the droids.

"We should leave the streets Your Highness," an older Jedi said hurrying them along, sweeping Leia and Padmé past him toward safety. Leia stayed close to Padmé as Qui-Gon took Amidala by the arm, and lead her across the plaza to relative safety.

Leia wanted to say something to Luke, but he was across the Plaza, helping Captain Panaka as he was handing out orders to the guards, "Get their weapons."

As the guards gathered the weapons, a tall lanky non-human piped up, "Woah. Yousa guys bombad!" and everyone turned to look at him, but quickly shook off their surprise, the need to get to safety taking precedence.

As they move off into the side streets, the older Jedi was saying, "We're the Ambassadors, for the Supreme Chancellor."

"Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador," The Governor commented.

"The negotiations never took place," the older Jedi said unhappily, "It's urgent that we make contact with the Republic."

"They've knocked out all our communications," Captain Panaka said.

"Do you have transports?" the older Jedi asked, turning to him.

"In the main hanger. This way." Panaka led them off into an alley as alarms started to go off.


	16. Reunited

**AN:This behemoth of a chapter takes up 10 pages all on it's own! And I really can't think of a way to make it shorter without reducing the amount of information. Not that I think anyone will mind too much, as I usually get complaints about how short my chapters are. **

Rose-Aislin, fictionfrek101:** Read, Joyful reunion is at hand!**

TriGemini, ennui deMorte, Magically Inclined:** Leia is having issues with Vader, yes, but I have plans for her.**

mooneasterbunny, daemon452, ILDV, dmitchell, Yoda1976, whitedino, murdrax, Clara Motion Wright**:Glad you are enjoying, and thank you for the kind words. **

Lunatic Pandora 1:**I have not received an answer to my question, but I realized that I haven't received anything from fan-fic since the first of March, so I will attempt to remedy this. **

**On with the Chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 16

Leia watched as Captain Panaka peeked through the cracked door. "There are too many of them," he told Qui-Gon who was looking over his shoulder.

Qui-Gon refuted him, "They won't be a problem." He turned to the Queen, saying, "Your Highness, under the circumstances, I suggest you come to Coruscant with us."

She glanced at Padmé over Qui-Gon's shoulder. "Thank you, Ambassador, but my place is here with my people."

"They will kill you if you stay."

The governor interjected, "they wouldn't dare."

Captain Panaka elaborated, "They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal. They can't afford to kill her."

"There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you." Qui-Gon told her gently.

The governor apparently found the Jedi believable. "Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us. Senator Palpatine will need your help."

The Queen finally spoke. "Either choice presents great danger," she said as she turned to Padmé and Leia, "to us all."

"We are brave, Your Highness." Padmé said, signaling that they would go.

"If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now," Qui-Gon told her.

"Then, I will plead our case to the Senate." She turned to Bibble, "Be careful, Governor."

Two of the handmaidens, Yané and Saché, stayed behind with Governor Bibble at a signal from Padmé as the hanger doors open to admit the Jedi, the Queen and her retinue.

Leia could barely hear the words of Captain Panaka as he told Qui-Gon, "We need to free those pilots."

Obi-Wan took Luke with him. "We'll deal with that," he said as they headed off toward the captives.

Leia went with the rest as they went to their escape craft, one of the few that ships would recognize on sight—a Nubian J-Type 327, and a nice one at that. "Halt!" a droid guarding the ship said.

"I am the Ambassador for the Supreme Chancellor, and I'm taking these people to Coruscant."

The droid seemed confused, "Where are you taking them?"

"To Coruscant." Qui-Gon repeated.

"Coruscant? Uh, that doesn't compute…Uh, wait...You're under arrest!" it started to pull up its weapon, but before it was finished doing so, Qui-Gon had it cut in half.

"Go!" She heard Obi-Wan shout from across the hanger, at almost the same moment.

A pilot and a navigator board the craft, and the Queen, and Leia nearly last, waiting on the Jedi, preparing to pull the ramp up after them.

* * *

Palpatine was getting tired of the Trade Federation's incompetence. He signaled his Apprentice. "This is my Apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship," he shut off the communicator, ending the conversation with the slime that he had to deal with on a daily basis, because anything less and they would get out of hand. "Your task in this, my Apprentice, will be primarily to destroy Qui-Gon Jinn. He is a student of the Living Force, and thus a threat to us and our plan. Secondly, if possible, I would like you to capture this new Jedi. He is of great interest to me. I believe that we could bend him to our will. If not, he will die."

* * *

Luke got aboard the ship, following Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon was last. "Go check on the Queen, please, Luke." Qui-Gon said, as he headed for the cockpit. 

"Yes, Master," he said pleasantly. One of the handmaidens the Queen had brought was still in the room. "Hey, could you take me to the Queen?" She shook her head yes without looking at him, then practically ran through the ship to the back. They entered the big room in the very back, where there were several astromech droids. He let the door close behind him, and then realized that they were alone. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he asked her, but she still had her back to him.

"The big idea is to get you all to myself, Luke Skywalker."

"Wha-Who are you?" he asked.

She turned to face him, dropping the hood that mostly covered her face as she did, and a big grin lit up his face. "Leia," he said in relief, and then picked her up in a huge bear hug. "I have missed you." He spun her around in his arms, and then set her down. The droids activated, and then shot out an airlock one by one.

"I didn't mean to offend you!" he half-shouted at the droids. A blue one beeped back a reply before shooting out the airlock as well.

"So, what have you been doing with yourself?"

"Trying to make myself useful to a planet unprepared for war. Naboo is like Alderaan was, so desirous of peace that the thought taking up of arms to defend themselves was antithesis to them."

"We need to talk, but I'm supposed to be checking on the Queen. If she's not here, where is she?"

"Two doors back, on the left."

"I'll be right back." He went to the second door on the left, opening it. "I was wondering if the Queen was here?" he asked the three handmaidens sitting in the foyer of the suite that obviously took nearly half the ship.

"The Queen is indisposed at the moment. I am Padmé. Is there something that you need?"

Luke grinned at the name. She was who he needed to know about, anyway. "No, I was just asked to inquire after the Queen's condition."

"She is well, and will thank you for your concern."

"Thank you. I will tell Master Qui-Gon," he said, the door shutting behind him.

_I wonder if Leia realizes how much she looks like Mother. She must know that the Queen is dressed as a handmaiden. I wonder if Mother knows she knows. Sithspit, its hard to think of that child as our mother, much less a tough leader. She can't be much more than fourteen. Father warned me they'd be young in this era, but it makes it no easier. _

He walked the rest of the way to the front of the ship. "Everyone seems fine, Master Qui-Gon."

"Hmm. Alright Luke. You'd better get strapped in. We should be making a jump into hyperspace in a couple of minutes."

"Certainly, Master," he said, heading off to the back of the ship again.

* * *

"Told me, Anakin did, that an opportunity to speak with Luke, he had." Yoda told Mace as the two of them were sitting around before breakfast, chatting about what was going on in the temple. 

"You haven't let someone give him a comm unit have you?"

"Through the Force, was the contact. Told me did he that a conversation of less than five minutes he had, but an hour it took. Effective it would not be. Interesting this talent of the Skywalker clan is, though."

"Interesting, yes. I know that the ability to talk mind-to-mind is rare enough, but over such a distance is nearly unheard of. Where exactly was Luke anyway?

"The surface of Naboo, he was on. Separated from the others he was, at that time, at least."

Mace shook his head. "So what will we do about the lack of Padawan's available for training? It's becoming more and more rare that a Padawan doesn't find a Master. The Agri-Corps are complaining that we haven't sent anyone there in three months."

"Disturbing this problem is, but a symptom of a greater problem, I sense that it is." Yoda began, starting to tell Mace what the appearance of the Skywalkers might mean for the order.

* * *

Qui-Gon listened as Luke reported back on the Queen's condition. Something was different. Luke's mood, typically slightly to the cheerful side of dreary, was very, very happy. The slight nervous tinge about whatever was going on that he had been sensing since they got aboard the Trade Federation's ship was gone as well. Maybe he'd figured out the feeling. He headed back to check and make sure that everyone was ready for the jump. He'd been through enough of them to know what to expect without it being problematic if he didn't strap himself in. Luke went into the back, and Qui-Gon sent a thread of the Force to block the door from closing all the way and enhanced his hearing so that he could find out what was up with the younger Jedi. 

"Get strapped in, we're going to hyperspace."

"Ok. Where are we headed?" a female voice asked. _Why is he talking to one of the handmaidens?_

"I'm not sure. Tatooine, probably." _I didn't tell him that, how does he know?_

"Why are we going there?"

"I never got the full story on it. If we don't go there we're headed to Coruscant."

"Ok." Leia said.

"Did the Alliance destroy the Death Star? Father and I were popped out before the full resolution of the battle," Luke asked. _Alliance? Death Star?Father?_

"Yes, the Ewoks were a tremendous help, Chewie captured one of the scout walkers and Han used it to fool the guards in the base to open the door. It was just after the base blew that I felt you vanish. It felt almost like you had gone into hyperspace, but different. Then the Death Star was destroyed and Han asked me if I thought you were on it when it went, I told him you weren't, but I wasn't sure where you were. He didn't take that very well, so I got frustrated because I couldn't explain it any better…" her voice was starting to rise.

Luke tried to quiet her down, "So you had a fight, which wasn't the first, won't be the last, when we get home I'm sure he'll understand when he hears the whole story," _Home?_

"If we get home, brother dear. Remember, we don't know how we got here much less how to get home," Leia said. "Or do you know?" _That explains that much. _

"I don't know. I think it has something to do with the Force, but I can't be for certain. I am certain that we are in the past. Yoda confirmed that much for us, at least." _So Yoda knows the boy's story._

"Luke Skywalker, if this is some weird Force thing, then why did I get dragged along? I know nothing of the Force." _Skywalker, so that's the boy's last name. I wondered. _

"I don't have any answers for you on that, Leia, maybe it's because you are a Skywalker, too, and this is family business," He said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "So, the Queen of Naboo masquerades as one of her own handmaidens?" _I thought as much. I could see one of them using subtle signals with the Queen, or at least the girl dressed as the Queen._

"How do you know that? You weren't raised in royal politics like I was."

"Father told me what her name was." _Father?_

"So is he here, then?"

"No, he stayed on Coruscant with Master Yoda."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish is what I say about him." _Some hostility there, I wonder where it comes from._

"He's changed, Leia since you last saw him. He saved me from the Emperor; in fact he killed Palpatine. You might even like him if you give him a chance."

"I doubt that."

"I won't press you on this right now, Leia, but you will have to face him eventually, sooner probably than you would like."

"Why is the Queen of Naboo so important to him that he talked about her?"

"She was…is our Mother." There was a very long pause. _Oh, my. This could get complicated._

"That makes some stuff that's been going on make sense now."

"Like what?"

"Like why I could, I don't know, feel her, if you understand?"

"I understand."

"And why I practically landed in her lap when I arrived from Endor."

Luke laughed. "I did that to Yoda." _That, I wish I could have seen._

Leia giggled. "Really? I feel a little better about it now."

"Good. Speaking of Yoda, he's sworn me to secrecy about this whole deal. Especially where Obi-Wan is concerned. It would be really hard on him to learn about how Father became the way that he did."

"Did he tell you?"

"Some of it, yes. He fought with Obi-Wan after he turned to the Dark Side. Father pressed the fight, with hate and rage overwhelming him. They were on a very hot planet, the whole surface volcanic, and he tried to flip over Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan just cut him to ribbons, but Obi-Wan couldn't stand to kill him, being his own Padawan and everything, so instead of killing him, he left him there on the side of the lava river, burning and dying. Palpatine came and took him back to Coruscant, and patched him up, but…" _This is disturbing. I need to know more about who they are taking about. My Padawan's Padawan turning to the Dark Side?_

"So, he has his shell, because of the burns?"

"Partly, and also to act as his prosthetic limbs."

"For which limbs?"

"All of them." _Cut him to ribbons, indeed. _

"Oh."

Qui-Gon couldn't stand it any more. They were talking about Obi-Wan, and some very, very bad things. He opened the door. "I think that we need to have a talk." He stepped in, letting the door close behind him. Luke glanced apprehensively at Leia "Your sister can stay, I'm sure she will have some interesting things to say as well."

"I told you when we started this mission I would leave you alone about what you knew, so long as it did not affect my Padawan. What I just heard you saying affects my Padawan. It is time that you level with me, and you need to do so now."

"I don't suppose I would be able to talk you out of this, would I?"

"No, you would not. What is your purpose here?"

"I don't know."

"I thought as much. What is this Alliance you were talking about?"

Leia fielded this question, knowing more about it. "The Rebel Alliance was formed practically the same day that Palpatine declared himself Emperor, days before we were born."

"We?" Qui-Gon interrupted her.

"Luke and I, we're twins. So the Rebel Alliance, or at least the foundation of it, the Committee of 2000, was set up in the weeks leading up to the destruction of the Republic. The Emperor and his dog, Darth Vader, spent 25 years attempting to root out the Rebellion, but that only served to strengthen it. As the Empire became more and more oppressive, more and more people had nowhere else to turn but the Rebellion. Some people were oppressed, some enslaved, such as the Wookiees. The Emperor set up a human-centric society. While he was doing this he was building his ultimate weapon. The Death Star," Leia paused here, and then continued after a moment, "The Death Star was able to destroy planets, wholesale. Alderaan, where I was raised, was destroyed by the Death Star, by my Father."

The hatred in her voice shocked Qui-Gon, "Be mindful of your feelings, Miss Skywalker," he started.

"It's Organa, thank you very much," Leia spat out.

"Be that as it may, you have to let go of your hatred, or suffer your Father's fate, you most assuredly will," Qui-Gon said, continuing his warning, "I sense great power from you and you must learn to control your emotions or much suffering you will cause."

Leia rolled her eyes, "Look at Luke if you want a Jedi, Mister. I don't have any of what he has."

"You do, Leia. Remember what I told you on Endor before I turned myself in?" Luke reminded her.

"I thought you were just bucking me up because you expected to die, Luke," Leia said.

"No I meant every word I said," he paused, considering his next words. "Master, would you consent to yet another Padawan?" Luke asked.

"Many traditions it would break, Luke. But I have never been one to follow the letter of the law. Yet, I sense it isn't me you should be asking, and now is not the time for that discussion. Finish telling me your story," Qui-Gon said.

"Where was I?" Leia asked, calming herself slightly with a deep breath.

"You had just told me this _Death Star_ had destroyed Alderaan," Qui-Gon supplied.

"Yes, I was forced to watch it, too. I was a prisoner on board that technological terror. After Alderaan was destroyed Luke, Han and General Kenobi rescued me," Leia said.

"General Kenobi?" Obi-Wan's voice cut in surprising everyone.

"Padawan, how long have you been listening?" Qui-Gon said chiding his Padawan.

"Yes, General Kenobi. Hero of the Clone Wars. You'll hear of him in a few years I'm sure," Leia said, frustrated at the interruption.

Luke had to choke down a laugh as Qui-Gon looked long-suffering.

"What? What's so funny? Luke? Why do you look like you let Hobbie talk you into leaving a bucket of water over Mon Mothma's door?"

Once Luke regained a bit of control, and more importantly, could breath, he told his sister, "Leia, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon's apprentice."

Leia was stunned, her mouth dropped and hung there for several seconds. "I can't continue with the story with him here!" She shouted.

"Quiet, we're trying to keep this low key, remember," Luke said.

"Obi-Wan, I sense it would be best if you did leave. Please check on our passengers," Qui-Gon said.

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said bowing to his master and to the twins.

"Now continue," Qui-Gon instructed after Obi-Wan left.

"Luke, Han, and General Kenobi were able to rescue me from the Death Star, but General Kenobi was cut down by our Father," Leia said

"It was odd, it seemed like Ben wanted Father to cut him down. Once Father's blade hit him he vanished and it was shortly after that I heard him in my head for the first time," Luke added. The twins went back and forth telling their story while Qui-Gon listened, only interrupting for clarification, but even with them answering all of his questions, it was clear to him there was more going on here than even the twins knew, indeed more than anyone knew.

* * *

Anakin had let the Healer talk him into minor surgery to eliminate some of the worst scaring on his visible parts. Slowly but surely she was stripping his body of everything that had made it Darth Vader. She told him that in three days, they would have alternative prosthetics available if he wanted to get out of his suit. It would also be the day that he thought they could expect Luke back.

* * *

Qui-Gon entered his quarters, finally. Obi-Wan had been waiting for him for several hours. "Master," he started. 

"Yes, Obi-Wan?"

"That girl, who is she?"

"She is a relative of the Queen's, and one of her handmaidens, why?"

"What was she talking about, this afternoon?"

"She's started to have visions. One matches the one that Luke had. That was one reason that Master Yoda sent him along with us."

"Can you tell me about this vision?"

"No. It is a very dire vision of a possible future, which we will strive to avoid. The future is always in motion, anyway. Knowing more would only bring you grief. It's not actually about you, but more about the people that surround you."

"So there will be a war?"

"Not if I can help it. I will discuss this with Master Yoda when we return. He knew much more about this than he told me, and I am not happy that he kept this from me."

"Is it that bad?"

"It is, My Padawan," he said, putting his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "My hope is that we can short-circuit the whole series of events, although I am uncertain how. Master Yoda may have a plan, having had longer to think about it."

"How does she know Luke?"

"Apparently they met by chance several years ago. I was not concerned with that particular series of events."

"So, I would be rescuing her, in this vision?"

"So it would seem, my Padawan, although I wouldn't get my hopes up. Rescuing princesses is tiring."

"Surly it can't be more exhausting than rescuing queens." Obi-Wan said with a grin.


	17. Unexpected

**AN: I know that I haven't included much of the original storyline here but, the thing with R2 and Padme happens, while Jar Jar has hidden away in the Jedi's quarters when they are not there, which is most of the time. Jar Jar is going, dispite my better judgement due to scenes later on which I find quite hilarious(namely the one where Jar Jar is begging Obi-Wan not to make him go).**

ILDV:**Leia is frightened and angry, and still hasn't accepted her father. Interactions with his nine-year-old self as well as his redeemed self later on in the story will help. **

ennui deMorte:**Yes, Anakin is getting a little ahead of himself. He's calculating based on if he was the one flying, because that's the only way he's done it for nearly thirty years. I haven't decided if Qui-Gon has figured anything out about Anakin-in-black, but once they get back the conection will be made.**

Lunatic Pandora, TriGemini:**First, Luke's not used to having other Force users around, and he was in a highly distracting situation, and as for Obi-Wan, well he was just checking on everyone, and happened in on the most relevent part of the story. And Qui-Gon will reap the consequences of eavesdropping.**

Forcefan:**Yes, everyone is going. **

Lily Dragon:**Jar Jar, was somewhere, but I'm not sure where I'd put him. anyway, he's around in this chapter, and he will be going on the trip to Mos Espa. **

to everyone else:**thank you for your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter. **

* * *

Chapter 17

Palpatine went about his day, meeting first with a Senatorial Committee, then a more clandestine meeting with Senator Lott Dod, then lunch with Senator Orn Free Taa, and finally a meeting with Chancellor Valorum. After that, he went to "dinner" although he was hungry for knowledge, not food.

He went to a place that he had set up for enabling him to contact Maul when he was off-planet. The residence was not registered in his name, the only two things contained there were a secured communications portal, and a Dark Side trap, set to destroy the item, should any other than he try to enter the domicile. "How goes your quest, my Apprentice?" he asked after establishing contact.

"The Neimoidians damaged the ship, and so they are headed to an outer rim planet. I have not determined which one, as of yet, Master. I am headed on an intercept course, and shouldn't be more than a day behind them."

"What are the likely choices, my Apprentice?"

"Somewhere in the Arkanis Sector, I think, Master. Geonosis, Maybe?"

Palpatine thought about it for a while. "No, not there."

"Tythe?"

"I doubt that Tythe would have the resources necessary to repair a ship."

"Tatooine?"

"There's a thought," he said after a long pause. "I believe that is where they are going, my Apprentice."

"I will head there immediately, and I will contact you once I have arrived."

"Good, good."

* * *

Luke was up early the next morning, and no one else had awakened. He practiced some of his Lightsaber forms, and was preparing to start meditating, when Obi-Wan appeared in the back room. "Hi," he said conversationally. "You, know I've been thinking about some things my old master told me when I was learning to use the Force. I thought they might help you out." 

"That would be nice. So you only know the Living Force?"

"Yeah. It's like he didn't want me straying off the path, so to speak. Anyway, here is what he told me that I should do," Luke said, and he started reciting the first lessons in meditation that Ben had taught him, back when he was still alive.

* * *

"I'm not sure what you are getting at, Yoda. It doesn't make sense to try this," Mace said, irritated by the suggestions that Yoda was trying to make. 

"Apart from the universe, we set ourselves. Apart from the natural order of things, we hold ourselves to be. What if the Force sent Skywalker to bring balance to the Jedi Order, not only the Force itself? What if the best way to be part of the universe is to be more of a part of it, rather than less? This temple, hold it will, twenty-five thousand Jedi. Less than a hundred thousand Jedi have we in total, and only five thousand to house, including the crechlings," Yoda said, getting up and going over to the window.

"And about 70 percent of our Jedi are out on missions now, and rarely are any home longer than a month. You are right about that much, Master Yoda." Mace said as he turned to face the old Master, who watched the rest of the world going by.

"If allowed we did, Jedi to have families, would not we then have more Jedi? Faced for a long time have we, not enough Jedi to go around there have been."

"You take Anakin as an example?" Mace asked, curled up on a meditation cushion.

"Yes. Strong in the Force is he, and strong in the Force is his son."

"Is that a rarity? I haven't known many Jedi who have produced children, either knowingly or unknowingly."

Yoda turned to look at Mace, "No, rare it is not. Rare it is for a Jedi not to pass on his power to his children."

"This would mean a great change in the Order, one that I don't know that I would agree with."

"Balance to the Force, it is said that the Chosen One would bring. Bring balance to our lives as Jedi we may need to, in order to help him." He said as he turned back to the skyline.

"This is a dangerous line of thought. Attachment is a path to the dark side," Mace said.

"Selfish attachment, yes. Selfless attachment, no," Yoda countered.

"They could be used as hostages, it could be used to weaken the Order," Mace continued.

"If the full force of the order, any who attempt it face, they will not," Yoda said.

"How are we to tell if someone's attachment is selfless or selfish?"

"How do we know if a student now is about to fall?"

"We don't," Mace said, with much regret, "but are we equipped to deal with family situations?"

"Family we are already, brothers and sisters we are in the Force, and change that, this will not," Yoda said, letting his conviction be known. "When a Padawan was I, a million Jedi there were, and more. Dying are we, the Jedi. Fail at our task, we do. Arbiters of the galaxy we are no longer. Beacons of knowledge we are no longer. Respected we are no longer. Needed is a change, desperately. Drastic is this, but necessary, I believe, if to survive we are."

"For a very long time the bond between Master and Padawan was viewed as the most bonding that a Jedi would ever do, and even that was viewed as a necessary evil, and now you want to suggest that it is not only proper that a Master feel as though their Padawan is their brother, or son, but that this is but the first strong relationship that they will have?"

"Second, it would be. If loved already, a youngling is, by parents that care for them, instead of Crèche-Masters, then a passage into another's care, this would be. Forbidden it would be to take as a Padawan one's own child. Too much is that done now, I think."

"I don't understand what you mean," Mace said, confusion showing on his face.

"Long have I avoided this subject, for pains me to see it, it does. Seen, I have, on occasion, Jedi, the more reckless ones, go to a planet several times in the span of a year or two. For them to go there is always reason, but then they bring a child back from that planet, and never return there. Not always, but mostly they also take that child on as a Padawan."

"I hadn't realized."

"Not often enough to be noticeable, but often enough for a pattern to make, for an old Jedi who has seen ten times as much as you," Yoda said, not chiding, but simply a acknowledgement of his advanced age.

"What do you think is going on?"

"For some, though all, believe I would like, a fair young lady, for invariably this happens to young men, seeks out the companionship of the respected Jedi, and contrives to have herself gotten with his child, thinking this will bind him to her. He visits later, finding her either with child or with a child, and ferrets the child away to the order, never going to see her again, embarrassed by his own misdeed."

"Would the child not be given up willingly, once she saw his commitment to the Order?"

"Like to think that I would. My heart tells me that this is the case less often."

"So by bringing the Jedi's children out into the open, it would be the cause of less secrecy," Mace said, finally understanding some of the reasons behind the radical changes that Yoda wanted to propose to the council.

"Yes. By being open, there is less for the Dark Side to grasp. Another change to put into place, we can, that may help. Jedi Younglings may have their parents stay with them in the temple," Yoda said, punctuating his speech with thumps of his cane.

"This would bring up enrollment numbers because those parents reluctant to give their child up to this life, would find it easier to allow their child to become a Jedi," The dawning realization came to him.

"Yes. The Crèche-Master would have less to do, I think, or different things, coordinating, and so forth. I do not wish to see the Jedi die in my lifetime, Master Windu. I fear that fallen too far already we have let ourselves."

* * *

Obi-Wan finished his meditation, having actually made a good deal of progress. The things that Luke said were the exact ones that he was able to finally grasp what Qui-Gon had been talking about all this time. He stood, hoping not to disturb Luke, who was very deep in some kind of Force trance or something. The door to the room opened, and Jar Jar Binks bounded through it. 

"Shh. Luke is meditating."

"Oh. Mesa sorry. Mesa be-en berry good, mesa promise."

"Come on, let's go see if there's anything to eat around this place."

Forgetting his promise at the prospect of food, he shouted. "Oie boie!"

"SShhhh," Obi-Wan quickly tried to hush him again.

"Oh," Jar Jar wilted, whispering, "my forgeten. My doen better disa time."

"Out." Obi-Wan directed, in no uncertain terms, and he glanced back at Luke, who seemed not to have noticed their conversation at all, though he seemed to have just a hint of a grin on his face.

They headed for the galley, and Qui-Gon was cooking, talking to two of the handmaidens. "Ah, good. Where's Luke?"

"Meditating. He seems to do that more than you do."

"He has much suffering to work through, my Padawan."

"I'm not sure that he was doing quite that. It almost looked like he was smiling."

"And what is wrong with smiling while you are in contact with the Living force?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Nothing, I guess."

"Oie boie, my waiten for some tongue-grabben."

One of the handmaidens giggled. "Leia!" the other one said, scandalized. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon had gotten out four plates, and had portioned out meals on to each of them.

"Padmé, you are welcome to eat with us, if you like, the Queen the other handmaidens as well."

She bowed to him. "Thank you Master Qui-Gon, but my place is with my Queen." She and Leia each took one plate in each hand, and left to go to serve the Queen.

"Those two are the strangest pair."

"You don't know the half of it, my Padawan." Qui-Gon said, dividing up the remaining food on to four more plates.

"Do you care to enlighten your ignorant young Padawan?"

"No," he said as Leia returned to eat with them. Quiet and self-assured today, she was very different from her sister handmaidens, Obi-Wan thought. . _She couldn't be very old, being the queen's handmaiden and all. After all, the Queen is only 14, if the holonews is to be believed. She's been having visions, though. I wonder what that is all about. Not that I will ever know, I don't suppose._ After they were all seated and eating, conversation turned to the planet that they were going to be visiting. Leia had apparently been there, and was not at all impressed with it. That particular fact piqued the Padawan's interest.

"So you've been to Tatooine?" he asked her after she had said something like, 'I hoped I would never set foot on that Force-forsaken dirt ball again.'Obi-Wan had only half heard what she said through his musing.

"I once had the displeasure, yes."

"So you wouldn't be interested in going with Qui-Gon and Luke to see if they can get parts?"

"Not really, no." she said, but sounded uncertain. "Although, if Luke is going, I might go, just to make sure he stays out of trouble."

"You needn't worry about it. I can manage one accident-prone Knight by myself." Qui-Gon said.

"My wanten gosa to da city."

"But it is so hot on Tatooine, with the two suns," Leia said, "And there's hardly a drop of water anywhere."

Jar Jar visibly wilted. "Maybe mesa stayen here. My not knowen how yousa be liven without water."

"I think it would be best to have you come with us. Your presence will make us less suspicious." Qui-Gon said, smiling.

"Mesa not sure dis is a good idea. A planet with no ome-goosa?" Jar Jar questioned Leia.

"Ome-goosa?" she asked.

"Umm, my no know, good paddlewompy water?"

"No there's hardly any water at all. Most anything to drink even, is imported. The only farming done on Tatooine is moisture farming."

Jar Jar wilted further. "My no thinken Tatooine isa berry nice place."

Qui-Gon felt sorry for the gangly being, but the cover was more necessary than Jar Jar's hurt feelings. "We won't be there more than a day or two. You'll be fine. Then we'll head to Coruscant."

* * *

Anakin looked in the mirror. He still had scars, and would probably always, but the Healer had been able to reduce that, making him at least appear less broken. Not that he would ever be less broken, but he might be able to appear normal, or at least as normal as Mace Windu. Anakin doubted she could ever get his hair to grow again. He liked having hair. Padmé had loved his hair. He sighed, turning away from the image of his broken self. He had found comfort in the eyes of his son, eyes that had been his, once. Innocent belief had brought him out of the Dark Side. Thoughts of Luke again sent his consciousness across the galaxy, and the contact was more sure this time. _Luke._

_Father. The most amazing things have been happening. I found Leia. She came with us, but a little later. She ended up in the palace at Theed. _

_I am happy for you that your sister is there with you. I have much to ask her forgiveness for, although I doubt that she could ever fully grant it. _A mental sigh flowed through the link _Maybe time will help her to heal. _Anakin felt that there were others around his son, Obi-Wan and Jar Jar.

_I am sure that it will._

_What is Jar Jar up to now?_

_He seems excited over the prospect of food._

_He always was that._

_Obi-Wan was having trouble with the Living Force. What other kind of Force is there?_

_The Unifying Force is what is mostly taught in this era. It's good for future sight, and it's easier to teach, but that's about it. I suppose that I take after Qui-Gon in my dislike of the Unifying Force. _He laughed, and the effects rippled through the contact._ I never really thought that I would say that, that I did anything like Qui-Gon. I never really saw Obi-Wan struggle with his contact of the Living Force. Maybe teaching me helped him to learn it himself. _

_We found the Queen, Mother, and I guess we are on our way to Tatooine. What do you remember about what happened originally?_

_Ah, that is a fun story_, he told Luke, launching into a recital of one of his favorite stories, the memory almost making him forget everything that had happened since._ I was nine, and a slave in Mos Espa, at Watto's Junk Shop, after he won me and Mom in a bet with Gardulla the Hutt. I was wizard at making things work–_

_Wizard?_

_Yes, wizard, and Watto would let me take some of the parts home sometimes. I helped him build a Pod-Racer, and on the side I built one of my own, as well as working on building C-3PO. _

_Wait, you built 3PO?_

_Yes, he was supposed to be to help Mom around the house and—what do you know about 3PO?_

_He belonged to Leia. Still does. She sent him and R2 with the plans to the Death Star to the surface of Tatooine to find Ben, and Uncle Owen bought them from the Jawas. That's what started me on this whole adventure in the first place. _

_R2? As in R2-D2?_

_That's right. How did you know?_

_R2 belonged to your mother for a long time. I suppose when she died those two droids went to Bail Organa and eventually to your sister, as part of her legacy. _

The two of them continued their discussion until Obi-Wan shook Luke out of his meditative state.

"Aren't you tired of meditating yet?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess." He got up, stretching, and realized how stiff he was.

"Well, come on, there's food ready for you. Master Qui-Gon said not to let you miss dinner, since you already missed lunch. We should be at Tatooine in an hour or so." Obi-Wan informed him as he headed off to the rest of the ship.

Luke grudgingly trudged off to dinner. _I guess we'll have to talk later, Father.

* * *

_

Padmé sat in the galley, bored out of her mind. She hated having nothing to do, and this side trip to an Outer Rim Planet didn't help her mood any. She needed to be helping her people. Master Qui-Gon had left after instructing his student Jedi to go fetch Luke, the other Jedi, who had apparently been meditating most of the day, and make him eat. She was rather fascinated by him, as he had apparently been talking a lot to her visitor from the future, (or was it the loony bin?) and while he had briefly spoken to her, she hadn't had any time to get to know him. She'd taken several hours to get to know Qui-Gon, and also Obi-Wan, but Luke was still a mystery.

"Hello," Luke said, as he rounded the corner. "Do you know where Master Qui-Gon is?"

"No, but he left specific instructions that you were to eat before you did anything else," she told him in no uncertain terms, a ploy to get him to talk to her, because Qui-Gon had left no such orders, but she was hopeful.

He was surprisingly compliant, shrugging and sitting down to eat. "So, you are Padmé, right?" he asked her, starting up a conversation before he even started to eat.

"Yes," she said. "And you are Luke?" He nodded, his mouth full. "Leia seems impressed with you."

He shrugged that off, "I've met Leia before. She's something alright. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I've ever impressed her, I don't think."

"Why not? I was impressed with the way that you took out those droid guards," she said.

"That was nothing. It's not like we were going up against the whole army of them, which we actually could be doing some time soon, if we come back to Naboo."

She thought about that for a moment. It was said that some Jedi could see the future, "Do you think that will happen?"

He shrugged. "Probably. I don't know."

"Why wouldn't you know?" she asked slyly.

"I know more than I want to talk about right now," he said, his eyes taking on a haunted shadow for a moment. "What about you? How did you get into this whole mess with Queen Amidala?"

She thought about how much to tell the Jedi. "I don't know where to begin."

"The beginning usually works," he said, teasing her. She was really starting to like him.

"Well I was very young when I decided that I wanted to be in politics. When I was eleven, I went into the Youth Diplomatic Corps. There I helped with all kinds of relief projects, when the Queen was elected I looked like her, which is a requirement for a third of the Queen's handmaiden's, I was also taught self defense and basic weapons because we act as her last line of defense," Padmé said. She felt comfortable telling him this.

"Do you know any hand-to-hand combat?" Luke asked, sounding curious.

"Yes, but the form we use is really only useful when we are being attacked," Padmé said, knowing the Jedi were trained from a very young age many forms of hand-to-hand combat, she knew as sure as she knew anything that Luke would be way out of her league in any sparing matches and she felt apprehensive about sparring with him. Not just because he'd wipe the deck with her most likely, but because some of the positions they'd be in, that would in other circumstances be considered scandalously intimate.

"Interesting, Leia was telling me that you are a peaceful planet, but I'm glad you still take the security of your leadership seriously," Luke said and Padmé hoped the relief on her face wasn't obvious.

"What is it like being a Jedi?" She asked, she knew this question was on the minds of trillions of people across the galaxy at one time or another.

"It's hard work, its not easy, a life of sacrifice," Luke said without hesitation.

"I know the Jedi don't have personal possessions, at least not officially. What kinds of things do you need to sacrifice?" Padmé asked wondering whether she should have asked the question as it could lead to more uncomfortable subject matter.

"That is an area most Jedi fudge on, to tell you the truth," Luke said, laughing a little, "For instance, the Lightsaber; no Jedi ever refers to their lightsaber as anything but their own. Indeed, it is bad form in the Order to use another's weapon without permission. Elaborate rituals surround the lending of a lightsaber to another knight. Now, of course, the Temple keeps a store of generic lightsabers for emergencies, but all Jedi build their own and replace ones lost very quickly."

"Have you ever lost your Lightsaber?" Padmé asked.

"I have, twice. Nothing like the problems Ben had with his first Padawan, from what I've heard."

"Ben is your Master?"

"Was, but yes."

"What was he like?"

"He was very kind, and he taught me well. He felt the pain of having seen a lot of really bad stuff happen to a lot of people that he really cared about. I think he carried it with him more than he should have, as a Jedi, but some of what happened, you just don't get over some things."

He seemed to be avoiding talking about it, so she dropped it. Leia might be able to tell her later. "What about having friends, are you allowed to do that?"

"Yes, but we're not supposed to form close attachments. It can be turned into something more dangerous."

"You mean that if a Jedi got married or something, that someone could do bad things to his wife, or his children. Manipulate him to not doing something, or doing something? Though I don't see how anyone could expect to actually get away with something like that.

Luke turned about three shades paler. "Yes, but what good is having the perpetrators be brought to justice if your family is dead? Greif and negative emotions affect Jedi in profound ways."

"How is that?" Padmé asked.

"Well, anger for example, feeds into the Force, it makes you incredibility powerful, for a while," Luke said.

"That sounds like a powerful tool, but why don't the Jedi use it?" Padmé asked.

"Because, the costs of doing so are too high. The Dark side is very seductive, and Jedi who use its power grow addicted to it. An entire order of Jedi once fell into the grasp of the Dark Side, and the Galaxy still has yet to recover from its taint," Luke said.

Padmé wasn't happy with the direction of the conversation, but yet she was incredibly curious, "Who were they?"

"The Sith. They once commanded huge armies and terrorized the Galaxy, each time destroying themselves from within, until they solved that problem. Master Yoda told me about it. There are always and only two now: a master and an apprentice," Luke said solemnly.

"You believe they still exist, don't you?" Padmé asked, frightened by what this alluring Jedi was telling her.

"Yes, and until the Prophecy of the Son of the Suns, the Chosen One comes to pass, their shadow will taint everything," Luke said.

"I've never heard that prophecy." Padmé said.

"I doubt you have, its one that only Jedi Masters know of for the most part," Luke said.

"So it's secret Jedi knowledge?" Padmé asked, puzzled as to why he would first, know of it and second, reveal it to her.

"Not really, it's just that Masters are the only ones who would take the time to look it up. I know it because I've had visions about it," Luke said.

"So why tell me?" Padmé asked, frightened at what the answer might be, this was the most candid conversation she had ever had with a Jedi and it was scaring the hell out of her.

"You asked, being a Jedi isn't easy as I said before," Luke said.

"Yet that is the path you chose," Padmé said.

"Did I choose it or did it choose me? My father was a powerful Jedi, he was tempted and fell to the Dark Side. I was initially told by my Master that my father had been killed by the monster my father had become, I went to confront him before I was ready and he told me the truth. I lost my hand in that fight," Luke said, holding up his gloved hand.

"Why did your Master lie to you about it?" Padmé said, shocked by Luke's candor not to mention the story he was telling.

"I think it was because it was painful for him. My father had been his Padawan from before and they were very good friends, brothers. When Father turned to the Dark Side I think a little bit of Ben's soul died when they fought. Father was left mutilated and depended on a life support suit to maintain his life, I think Ben's soul was as badly mauled as Father's body had been after a fashion," Luke said, his eyes were haunted, distant. Eyes that had seen too much, it was all Padmé could do not to weep openly for him and the pain he'd been through. Then she saw it, a single tear fall from his left eye and she lost it she went over to him and hugged him and both of them wept.

Luke was surprised when his mother embraced him, but their conversation had touched on many wounds, not all of them closed. He heard her crying for him and was overwhelmed with emotion. The emotion of finally getting to cry on his mother's shoulder after a lifetime, and knowing she cared for him. That she didn't know he was her son consciously didn't matter at that moment. Finally the pain of the past came out in soft sobs, and during them he said softly, too softly for her to hear him, he hoped, "Thank you, Mother."


	18. Tatooine

**AN:**fictionfrek101: **Yes, they really are. **

everyone else: **Thank you for the kind reviews, and I'm glad everyone seems to be liking the direction that the story is going, now on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 18

Padmé heard Luke say something. He was so quiet about it, and it muffled in her hair, but it sounded like he said, "Thank you, Mother," but she dismissed it as hearing things. The two of them gathered themselves, and she reluctantly let him get up. It felt so nice to be held by him, comforting. He was washing his plate off when Qui-Gon came around the corner. "We will be dropping out of hyperspace in a few minutes; you'd better get strapped in."

She didn't want to let Luke from her sight, but she knew that she would have to. Her handmaidens would fret if she weren't there for the drop. "My place is with the Queen. She is not very good with space travel."

He smiled, and said, "Alright. Go to her if it will make the Queen feel better." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you once we land."

Astonished by the intimate, yet chaste gesture, she made her way back to her quarters, seriously considering what it might have meant.

* * *

Palpatine had things to take care of. After his meeting with Lord Maul, he'd had to go back to the Senate building for four additional meetings, various bureaucrats needing his personal direction. it was tedious, but humorous work. He sighed, tired from all the sniveling, they were so pitiful. Their interests so small compared to what Palpatine had in mind. It was a curse having to deal with such small minds, but then again he'd only known two beings that truly measured up to his standards as being worth anything, his Master and his apprentice, one had stood in his way, and the other was surly plotting against him now. That was the way of the Sith. Better to have useful idiots than more than one threat. 

He finally had gotten home, and was able to meditate, in a secret chamber in his home that housed various dark artifacts, and was the place he was most comfortable with being, because he could be fully himself, Sidious. Palpatine, a name meant nothing to him; he was power beyond a name or characterization. They, like the Force, the Dark Side, his Master, his Apprentice indeed the entirety of the Galaxy was nothing but a tool, a tool to use to meet his ends. He didn't realize the simple fact that he was as much a slave as those he looked down on.

He loved playing that role, it was getting him closer to his goal, and he also enjoyed they way he was able to play those fools. His successes thus far proved to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Sith philosophy was correct, the weak needed the strong to rule them. They were simply incapable of living their pathetic lives in peace without him. They would fear him, once he got the power that he desired, but they would also love him. That was the way it should be, this sick experiment in self-determination and equality had gone on and failed long enough.

That Jedi, Luke, was important, he could feel it to the marrow of his bones. He felt like all the other Jedi though, entrenched in the belief that the Dark Side was evil. It was only a tool, one that could be used to the advantage of someone who knew how to wield it. They also had the belief that their precious light side was good, and it made them nearly impossible to turn, unless one took very drastic measures to do so, and the Jedi already had some emotion to work with, to help them to let go of their sadly wrong beliefs. It was nearly impossible to turn a Jedi who was sticking to the code. Even harder if they were attuned to the Living Force, as this new Jedi was.

He meditated for a long time, and only found confusion from the Dark side, as though someone had been meddling with it. He received imagery that made little sense, long strings of braided rope that would not break; a tall man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes with two little children that looked about 9, a boy and a girl; the current Queen of Naboo, triumphant; the braided rope protecting her from his influence; and finally, the rope that had previously only held him back turned into a deadly snake, striking at him.

These images disturbed him, shocked him, even. This was not the way that he had seen his plans coming together not even two weeks ago. He was not pleased, and as he went to bed, still thinking about his visions, he thought about needing to find someone to relieve his displeasure onto.

* * *

Luke strapped in feeling better than he had in months. He never realized how cleansing crying could be. However now that the moment was over he couldn't help but wonder if he'd made a huge mistake, but once he'd started talking, he couldn't stop himself. A part of him desperately wanted his mother to know what had happened to him, and that part had been the one doing the talking. He wished he could talk it over with Leia, but she was busy pretending to be a handmaiden. He sighed. Hopefully she either didn't hear, or he was too hard to understand for her to know what he had said. He continued kicking himself as the ship landed.

* * *

Jar Jar ran over to Obi-Wan, falling to his knees, begging, "Obi-Wan, sire, pleeese, no mesa go!" 

"I'm sorry, but Qui-Gon's right, you'll make things less obvious."

Obi-Wan returned to inspecting the hyperdrive that he had just pulled out of the ship, and shook his head. He was amazed that they had even gotten as far as they had with it in as bad of shape as it was. Qui-Gon walked up to him, quietly waiting for an answer. "The hyperdrive generator is gone, Master."

Qui-Gon's expression soured slightly. "That'll complicate things. Be wary, I sense a disturbance in the Force."

"I feel it also Master."

"Don't let them send any transmissions."

"Yes, Master."

Qui-Gon rounded up the twins and Jar Jar, and prepared to leave with them. "Come along, we need to be done with this as quickly as possible."

Obi-Wan busied himself with the mechanics of the ship, and soon decided he was wasting his time; there simple wasn't anything to do until the parts had been acquired.

* * *

Mace sighed, pacing in his meditation chambers instead of meditating. All this change brought about by two people who he hadn't known for more than two weeks. Yoda had been convinced by some of the things that Anakin had said, and Luke hadn't really been any less persuasive. And now this. Another one, he'd said, Luke's sister. The transformation that had been taking place slowly over the last two weeks, was taking on a faster, more reckless bent. Anakin was re-becoming the young Jedi Knight who had recklessly thrown everything away because he couldn't release his attachment to his wife when visions showed him that she would die. He had suffered greatly for that attachment, and the idea that it wasn't worth it had apparently never crossed his mind. Mace did not understand him at all. He didn't understand how Yoda could buy into all of the strangeness that he encompassed, either. Maybe he should meditate. It certainly wouldn't hurt, and it might just possibly provide the answers he was seeking.

* * *

Luke, Leia, Jar Jar, Qui-Gon and R2 were disembarking as Captain Panaka approached them with Padmé. Luke noticed that she was trying to avoid his gaze, and was she blushing? _Must be the suns_, he thought. She was fair skinned, and the suns are murder on those not used to it. In fact it had been long enough since he'd been on Tatooine that even he was wishing for a cool breeze or maybe a cold Hoth wind. Even Jar Jar complained about the heat. Qui-Gon wasn't pleased with having Padmé along, probably because he knew her true identity. In the end Qui-Gon allowed her to join the party. 

They headed off to Mos Espa, and Qui-Gon took the lead directing where they went, which was the seediest looking junk shop in the city. He had rarely gone to Mos Espa, but it didn't look like much had changed in the years preceding the last time he'd been there.

"Guta naloya," said the Toydarian from behind the counter. Luke hadn't seen a Toydarian in a long time, there weren't that many on Tatooine, and less across the galaxy. He flew up and over the counter to them. "Hi chuba da nala?" He asked. Not the politest that he'd ever seen a Toydarian be, but far from the worst.

Qui-Gon answered him, apparently understanding at least the jist of the Huttese that the Toydarian was using. He stayed back, watching Padmé, and Jar Jar, with Leia at his side. Her presence radiated comfort, and he was almost happy. If he could get her to at least talk to Father, things would be even better.

"Peedenkel! Naba dee unko!" The shouted Huttese drew his attention back to the room. He had a sense of dread at the words, and clamped his hand firmly on his sister's shoulder. A boy, blonde, young, ran in. "Coona tee-tocky malia?" He questioned the boy.

"Mel tassa cho-passa..." He started to explain, but was cut off.

"Chut-Chut! Ganda doe wallya. Me dwana no bata," he ordered, and the little alien flew off with Qui-Gon toward the back. Luke briefly wondered if Leia knew any Huttese. Surely she did, being a Senator. He'd ask her later.

Leia looked back at him, and opened her mouth, but he put a finger to her lips, softly shushing her, then went back to watching his parents interacting for the first time once she turned to watch.

"Are you an Angel?" the boy asked after staring at Padmé for a long time.

"What?" Padmé asked, seemingly very startled by the question.

"An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the Moons of Iego I think." _Charming, _Luke thought. _Already he is charming her._ Leia had reached up to her shoulder and taken his hand down so that she could hold it behind her back, but he didn't mind, as long as she behaved herself, and didn't interfere with their parent's bonding.

Padmé looked back at Luke, and he just shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't about to interfere with this conversation. "You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?" She finally asked him.

_Ouch, and she shoots him right down! _Luke thought. He heard Leia giggle softly at that, too.

"I listen to all the traders and starpilots that come by here. I'm a pilot, you know, and some day I'm gonna fly away from this place." _Wow, I guess I do take after him. _

"You're a pilot?" Padmé asked, curious.

"All my life."

"How long have you been here?" she continued to question the boy, since Luke wasn't at all interested in helping her out.

"Since I was very little, three, I think. My Mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the Podraces." _I wish I could have softened this for Leia. Maybe this will shake up her beliefs about Father, though. _He felt Leia squeeze his hand, but he didn't know what to make of it. She probably wanted to save him, or some such.

The shock, nearly indignation, was clear in Padmé's voice, "You're…a slave?"

"I am a person! My name is Anakin." _Full of defiance already. _Luke shook his head. _No wonder Father was as much trouble to Obi-Wan as he had been_. It took two heartbeats for Leia to realize who it was that was in front of her, and she gasped, but remained quiet otherwise, but at that moment, their parent's attention had been otherwise diverted, and had been on Jar Jar, who'd found some sort of trouble.

"Did you know?" Leia whispered in his ear.

"Father told me, yes." He answered her. "Jar Jar, come on, let's wait outside, where it's safe." He called out in a louder voice.

"Mesa no believen dat isa safer outside in da murderen suns."

"I believe that it will be safer for my sanity, and your overall health. I wouldn't want that shelf to fall on you."

Jar Jar looked suspiciously at the shelf in question, which teetered precariously when he touched it. "Okieday. Mesa no wanten my getsa hurt," he said, slightly sullen, apparently facing two choices that he didn't like.

They didn't wander far, and it wasn't long before Qui-Gon brought Padmé and R2 out.

* * *

The Healer came. Anakin sighed. Her stepping through the door was always a prelude to poking and prodding. He closed his eyes. She came up to him anyway. "We need to have a look at your vocal cords, if you want to have your voice back?" _Damn her anyway. I still hate it._

"Go ahead," he rasped at her, falling into meditation to escape. He'd been through more major medical procedures in the last two weeks than he'd had in the twenty-odd years since his fight with Obi-Wan. It made him feel like he ought to have done something about Palpatine sooner, but he'd hated himself so much for having killed his entire family. _Maybe Leia is right to hate me._ He thought to himself. This was his second chance, and he was just waiting around for things to happen. Bored and frustrated, he cast his mind out of his imprisoned body, trying to find solace in a spiritual walk.

He wandered around the temple, and found no where that he wanted to be, so outside he went, trying to think of somewhere he could go that would get him further in his quest to make things right for his children.

After wandering somewhat aimlessly for a while, he came to a door. The Force seemed to be whispering that he needed to go into that door, and so he did. It was a palatial home, he noticed, but there didn't seem to be anyone there, and while the place looked like it was often utilized, it didn't look, somehow, as though anyone lived there. He allowed the Force to guide him, and felt a sense of foreboding as he made his way down a staircase, to the lowest level of the building, where there was a room that chilled his Force Presence. Hesitantly, he got closer and closer, finally he was against the wall, and he stepped through it. What he saw there actually frightened the former Sith Lord. There were artifacts, Dark ones, every one, and he couldn't have told anyone what any of them did. This was Palpatine's private collection, and he'd never seen any of it. Palpatine came down the stairs then, but he didn't notice Anakin's force presence. He watched as his former master began to meditate, and Palpatine seemed to feel safe enough, so he wasn't shielding hardly at all. Anakin remained still as he was bombarded by the images of Palpatine's visions, and, while he felt the confusion of the Sith Lord, the images made him smile. He was going to win.

* * *

Leia watched silently as they hid in a back alley way in two groups herself, Padmé and Luke at one end of the alley, and R2, Jar Jar, and Qui-Gon at the other, while Qui-Gon spoke with Obi-Wan. "You left me alone with that boy!" Padmé said. 

"So?" Luke answered. _She's going to kill him. _

"So?! That's all you have to say for yourself is, so?" _Defiantly dead. I'm going to be an only child. At least she's not yelling yet. There might be hope for him._

"Why are you mad at me?" Luke asked innocently.

"Why am I mad at you? He…He…He was flirting with me!" Padmé nearly screamed.

"He's nine years old; I don't think he knows what flirting is, besides, even if he was what's the harm in it? He seems nice enough," Luke said, it seemed to Leia that he was genuinely confused, and now that she thought about it, so was she, why would their Mother suddenly be so hostile to Luke.

"What about just before we landed?" Padmé said through clenched teeth.

_Huh? What was this about? What have you done Luke?_ Leia thought groaning to herself.

"What do you mean what about just before we landed?" Luke said, sounding frustrated.

"That didn't mean anything to you?" Padmé said.

"Huh? It meant a lot to me. You are a very special person, Padmé, I wouldn't trade anything for our talk," Luke said, Leia rolled her eyes _He is so BLIND!_

Padmé growled in frustration and stalked off after Jar-Jar and Qui-Gon Jinn. Luke shrugged, apparently not realizing anything was wrong. "Luke," she said, "What have you been doing?"

"Huh?" he looked startled, like he'd forgotten she was there.

"What was she talking about?" she said, getting up in his face.

"Oh, we had a talk, kind of getting to know each other." Leia eyed him suspiciously. "What? I didn't tell her, if that's what you're thinking."

"I think that's exactly your problem right now. She has no idea who you are, and she _likes _you."

"I don't get what you're saying, Leia," he said, sounding genuinely confused.

"How did you get so dense?"

"What?" he said, still confused.

"She likes you. She shouldn't like you. I don't know why she likes you. I would call you a scruffy-looking nerfherder right now but it'd be an insult to the nerfherders."

"I thought Han was the scruffy-looking one!" he protested weakly in self-defense, and then dawning comprehension finally started to creep across his face. She turned around and left him to his thoughts.


	19. Truth

**AN: Sorry that I've left you hanging for so long. I've been getting sidetracked with no less than 6 other projects, and in having so much else that I'm doing is draining the time that I can spend on this one. **

Wawoot: **Glad to see you join the story. You are at Chapter 10 as I write this(or at least that's the last chapter that you reviewed) and things begin to heat up there.**

ennui deMorte:** Thank you for pointing that out. I went back and changed it. **

forcefan: **No, well, you'll see. **

TriGemini: **Well, Luke has not really had a lot of luck with the women in his life. First his sister, now his Mom. He lives the tortured existence of a proper character. (A fiction writer's job is, primarily to torture their characters, you must realize this)**

Teresa:** Thank you! I always like your reviews. Yes to most everything. **

Everyone else:** Thank you, and yes, Luke is being very dense, but now that he's realized his mistake, he should get it straightened out(although that's still up in the air...)  
**

**On to the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 19

Palpatine woke the next morning, unhappy with the results of his meditations the night before, and his foresight for once giving nothing away. It astounded him that he was in such a predicament after he had spent the greater part of his life relying on those intuitions. There had been something going on last night, he was sure of it now. He returned to his secret chamber, meditating again, hoping to get more answers. He was again bombarded by images that he didn't understand. Qui-Gon, Yoda and Obi-Wan, each holding one of the three strands of the braided rope, the one that signified his enemy, and they were making it stronger, looping it properly, and making sure that everything was right with the braid. There was a big kink in one of the loops, but even as he watched, Qui-Gon was smoothing it out.

The scenes started to flash before him then: The dark haired man, with his children, but this time they were younger, maybe 6; the Queen of Naboo, under the protection of the rope; a little boy, again under the protection of that confounded rope; the boy and the Queen together, with the rope very close to them, excluding everything from them, binding them together, but neither of them seemed to mind it too much.

Another scene started, and there was a little boy, the one from before, not the child of the dark haired man, but very similar, sitting on a table, cross-legged. The boy looked at him, and started to talk. "I hate you. You are evil. You are destroying my life, and my family, and I'm going to kill you for it." He had the rope in his hands, and coiled in his lap, and he fiddled with one end, where it was clearly three distinct pieces.

"You can trust me, little boy," he heard himself saying.

"No, I tried that once. I'm not going to believe you again. You will never get the chance to meet me, because I'm going to kill you." The sentence, though completely illogical to Palpatine when taken at face value, he felt, was clearly a statement that the manifestation of power, the one that had chosen the form he was looking at, had meant in a very real sense. The boy had been playing with the rope, which then shot out of his hands, and started to wrap itself around Palpatine's body, binding him in place, inching its way up toward his throat.

"Help me!" he heard himself saying to the boy.

"Why should I?" The boy asked him.

"I can show you great things, if you will help me," he answered.

"Great, terrible things. I've seen what you have to offer, Sidious. I don't care for it. I'm not as stupid as you take me for."

"Why do you talk to me, if the only thing that you offer is more riddles, not the knowledge that you actually possess?"

"Why should I tell you what I know? I hate you. You are evil. You are in the process of destroying my life and my family. I don't have any desire to help you, nor do I really have any desire to talk to you. I'm just bored, and I find you entertaining."

"How did you get bored?"

"Oh, sitting around, thinking up ways to make you pay for your misdeeds, just waiting for the right time to come and kill you."

"Really, and when will that be?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know yet. The stars haven't aligned themselves properly for that. Soon enough, though. The time draws nearer."

"Why do you appear to me in that form, spirit?"

"It is one that is easy enough for me to manifest, and is as yet untainted by your touch."

"Tell me about the dark haired man with the piercing blue eyes."

"He is a Jedi." The boy said, shrugging his shoulders.

"He has two children with him when I see him."

"His twins, yes."

"Why is he important?"

"He is the Son of the Suns."

* * *

Leia wasn't really surprised when Luke caught up with her, trying to get her alone again. "Leia," he hissed through his teeth, holding one of her arms. She didn't like it, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"What?"

"Would you, you know, talk to her for me?"

"No way. You got yourself into this mess. I'm not about to get in there with you. You can dig yourself out of this one."

"Leia, please," he looked at her with those pleading eyes. She never understood how anyone could make blue eyes look so sad.

"Not this time. I think you can figure out something. If all else fails, tell her the truth."

"That's not funny, Leia."

"It's not supposed to be." She said, and headed off to join the rest of the group. Apparently the Gungan had met with some trouble.

* * *

Anakin woke with a start. He'd been dreaming that he was talking to Palpatine. _Maybe I was._ He thought, cold from the possibility that Palpatine would know what he'd just told him. He needed to get out of here, away from Coruscant. _Away from him._

* * *

Padmé didn't know what to think. Ever since she'd confronted Luke, he'd been hovering—near Leia. This was the exact opposite of the reaction that she'd wanted. He obviously had some sort of feelings for her, but that wasn't good enough, apparently. She had a thought, _Is he stuck here, like Leia? _She remembered then, the first thing that Leia had said to her: '_Where's Luke?'__She loves him, and he loves her back_, and with that thought, a single tear fell from her eye. Then she thought, _if that is the case, why did that moment happen? _His behavior was most puzzling.

* * *

Luke lagged behind the others, thinking. Leia was right; he had to do something, and quickly. He felt the wind tickling the back of his neck then, and when he turned, he saw something of far more immediate consequence—a sand storm. The rest of them were headed somewhere, Anakin in the lead, so he followed at a good trot to get caught up.

He entered the home last, just barely in time to hear Anakin yelling as he ran through the house, "Mom, Mom, I'm home!" his heart leapt into his throat—he was going to get to meet his Grandmother. Leia came over beside him, not touching but just close to him to be close. It was comforting in the noise of the conversation that they were not a part of at the moment.

"Anakin, why are they here?" she chastised him.

"A sandstorm, Mom. Listen!" his answer came rather quickly, and he went on, trying to convince Padmé to go see his droid.

"Let's go with them," he whispered and Leia nodded.

They entered another room, one with a sleeping pallet, and a workbench; Anakin's room. An incomplete protocol droid sat on the work bench, and Anakin ran up, telling Padmé, "Isn't he great? He's not finished, yet, though."

"He's wonderful," she said to him, not wanting to spoil things. R2 had been beeping a blue streak since they got into the house, and, while Luke didn't necessarily understand what he was saying, the tone was quite obvious; he was excited, or at least the closest that a droid ever got to it.

Completely unfazed by the lack of enthusiasm that Padmé seemed to have for the conversation, Anakin continued, "You really like him? He's a protocol droid, to help Mom. Watch!" he reached up to the back of the droid's neck, and flipped a switch. Luke moved over behind Leia, putting his hands on her shoulders, so that he could better judge her reaction to C-3PO.

"Oh, oh, where is everybody?" the droid said.

"Oh!" Anakin hunted around for the droid's eye to complete the circuit so he could "see." Pushing the eye into the socket made the droid's eyes light up, showing a good connection.

"Hello, I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?" Leia gasped at the name. She turned to look at Luke, and it was all he could do to keep from grinning.

"He's perfect," Padmé said, this time without having to feign enthusiasm, the droid's personality taking her in.

C-3PO got up and started walking, talking to R2-D2 while Anakin talked to Padmé about his pod-racer. "I don't see what could have made such a wonderful little boy into the monster that he became." Leia whispered to him.

"Love," Luke answered her. "For her, and for us. Palpatine twisted it into something that he could use, and turned him into a monster that couldn't even recognize his own children for what they were, but where it started was here, with love." They watched, and Padmé was enjoying the talk with Anakin far more than she seemed to be admitting to herself. It was almost, for that time, as though they weren't even in the room, just watching a tiny piece of their past come together.

"Ani, dinner!" the voice of their Grandmother resounded through the room from the front.

"Coming," he called, "Come on," he said, but didn't wait to see who followed. Leia gave Luke a hard look then, and followed R2 out of the room, leaving Luke alone with their mother.

* * *

Yoda walked to the Healer's early that morning; he had sensed some distress from the man encased in the black suit.

"Anakin, upset you are. Talk to me you should," the aging master said, getting up on the stool that he typically used while he was in the room.

"I'm frustrated, Master," he said, with some regret. "Patience has never been easy for me."

"A man of action, you are and on the sidelines you to be you cannot abide, is this what you tell me?"

"Yes, Master."

"Sorry I am that you feel this way. Sense, I do, much change coming quickly," Yoda said, "very short will be your continued rest."

"I sense it too, Master." Anakin bowed his head. "I did something that you should know about."

"Rash, I sense, this thing was," his face showed displeasure.

"Yes, Master. I was rash. I cannot promise to be what I am not, so I will not promise not to do it again."

"Humph. Train this out of you I will try more thoroughly this time," Yoda said, thumping his stick on the ground.

Anakin nearly laughed. "Yes, Master. I do try, Master."

"Do or do not. There is no try."

Anakin looked up at him. "I suppose that there is not," he paused to collect his thoughts about the conversations with Palpatine. "I Force-walked out into the night."

"A rare ability."

"Obi-Wan taught me how, during the War. It was occasionally necessary, when one was captured, in order to plan an escape route, and gather other intelligence," he said grimly.

"Go on."

Anyway. I Force-Walked out into the night, and found myself drawn to the secret private chamber of Darth Sidious. He has artifacts of the darkest nature there; things that I haven't even seen, nor could I discern the purpose of them, only the darkness emanating from them. I shielded myself well; I doubt that he knew that I was there. His mind was more open in that place, and having been his apprentice for 23 years, I am more sensitive to its inner workings. I saw the visions that he saw in that place. I was able to understand them, they were quite straightforward with the knowledge that I have for their content, but he was not. I woke this morning, convinced that I had returned to him in my sleep. That is what has me disturbed, Master."

"Tell me."

* * *

Padmé realized that Leia had intentionally left Luke with her. She could guess why and it made her angry with Luke. "Ok, what is going on here? I am confused and not just a little bit hurt," Padmé launched into Luke. At least he had the decency to look chagrined. "So, just how long have you been with her?"

"Been with who?" Luke said the look of chagrin changing to one of confusion.

Padmé rolled her eyes and nearly screamed, "Leia! How long have you been with her, I've seen how you look at each other. She's mad at you right now, but there's love there too."

Luke looked shocked and started to turn red," You…you think….Leia and I…..are…."

"Lovers, what other thing could you be, why are you denying it? WHY ARE YOU TORMENTING ME?" Padmé hissed.

Luke sighed, taking a deep breath trying to calm down, so that he wouldn't be yelling at his mother. He sighed, regretting that she was forcing this conversation, "That's not what's going on, I'm sorry, Padmé. I feel about the same way for Leia as I do for you, but there's nothing 'happening.'"

"I don't believe you."

He tried a different tactic, "I am a Jedi; Attachment is forbidden to us. Not that it wouldn't kill me if either of you got hurt," Luke looked sadly into her eyes, hoping he could make her understand without telling her the whole truth.

"There's something that you aren't telling me," Padmé accused.

His hand caressed her face, gently, "There is, but I doubt you'll believe me if I told you the truth," Luke said.

"Try me, I know Leia is from the future. You know her; that means you're from the future too," Padmé said.

"Ok," he said, resigned, "here's the truth. We are from the future. Leia is my twin sister," Luke said.

Padmé started feeling embarrassed, she'd been jealous over his SISTER!

"Oh…your sister," Padmé said, a smile creeping onto her face.

"And you are our Mother," Luke said, finishing the thought, having hoped that he wouldn't have to.


	20. Hope for the future?

TriGemini:**How else do you expect me to get you to come back unless I have you hanging on to the edge of your seat for at least part of the ride? As for your other questions, answers should all be contained within the chapter. **

Teresa:**No, no and no. it is 32 BBY, prior to the birth of Lando in 31, and Han in 29. Chewie is on Alaris Prime, with Attichitcuk founding one of the cities there. He might even be still on Kashyyyk, doing the same. He's definatly to busy to come play with the Jedi. And yes, just for you, Palpy is getting indigestion over the whole thing. And no, I don't think that Yoda will be any more successful the second time around. Only time would do that, but Anakin didn't have enough of it the first time. He will the second. **

SidiousSith:**Thanks for joining this little community of devoted fanship(at least I hope my readers are devoted). And you get to see...right now!**

* * *

Chapter 20

Yoda sat and listened to Anakin speak. He'd actually started to grow rather fond of the broken Knight, in spite of himself. "First, the vision last night." He sighed, preparing himself for the emotions that would surely come with talking about this. "First, there was a long rope of three strands. At first I did not understand the meaning of it, but it did become clear: it is a physical representation of myself and the twins. An image of myself, at the age that I would have been had the scene actually happened, with Luke and Leia, when they are about 9. Then there is Padmé, in triumph, with the rope protecting her, then finally an image of the rope as it turned into a deadly viper, striking out at Sidious."

"Simple enough, when all the facts you know." Yoda agreed. "continue."

"An image of you, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, each holding one of the strands of rope, braiding it, and more especially, Qui-Gon working out the kinks in the strand that he holds."

"Interesting, this is. From this morning, it is?"

"Yes, Master. I believe that the strand that Qui-Gon holds in the vision is meant to represent the Princess Leia, because I have not seen her in several years, and she has not come to know me the way that Luke has."

"Hmm. See if that is true, we shall."

"I hope so. Another image, me again, with the twins, but they are younger, 6, maybe. I don't know. Again, Padmé under the protection of the rope, and my younger self, under the same protection, then both together, and the rope is binding the two together." He sighed, hoping that the whole thing might just be a dream brought on by the previous night's vision.

"Continue. More there is, I sense."

"Yes, Master, one more. I take the form of myself at nine, and I talk to him. I tell him that I hate him, which I do."

"Hate is a part of the dark side, Anakin. Careful you must be."

"I know, Master. He took everything from me. It is hard for me to let go of the hate that I have carried for him all these years."

"If strong enough to defeat him, you wish to be, done this must be."

"Yes, Master. I told him that he is destroying my life and I will kill him for it."

"Revealed, you think that you are, because of this?"

"Yes, Master. I am sorry, Master. I told him other things, as well. He asked me about 'the dark haired man with the piercing blue eyes.' I told him that he was a Jedi."

"He is."

The conformation that he still had a place where he belonged, relieved him, and he continued, "He asked who the children were. I told him that they were his twins. And he asked me why that Jedi was important."

"What did you tell him?"

Greif at something that shouldn't have happened crossed his face. "I told him that that Jedi was the Son of the Suns."

"Known to very few, is that part of the Prophecy." Yoda reassured him, "Read the whole thing, have you?"

"It is something that I did look up, considering that everyone and their Master was talking about it, and me for the first ten years I was at the temple."

"To translate the old writing many have tried. What say you about its meaning?"

"Darkness shall come over all the lands, evil shall hide within sight_…_And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as The Son of the Suns; One chosen, born not of flesh, but great in spirit, compassion and power. Through trials, great and small he shall conquer, and even in failure shall he find victory. Balance shall he bring, in the final darkest day."

"Studied for thousands of years, has that prophecy been. So old it was that many have failed to understand for simple translation errors. Means anything, does it now?"

"I believe so. The final darkest day, I believe was the day that I took Luke to see the Emperor, and together we defeated him."

"And now you are here. What does that mean for you now?"

"I do not know, Master."

* * *

Padmé looked him over, closely this time. She walked over to him, he had the nerve to offer her a lopsided grin. She then closed her fist and punched him right across the jaw, then walked past him and went down for dinner. She fumed as she went down the stairs. How dare he come up with such a lame…lie. It _was_ a lie, wasn't it? As she went down the stairs she started thinking, why would he come up with such a ridicilious lie? She shook her head, she didn't want to belive him, she wanted to hate him, and she needed to be angry right now.

* * *

Palpatine was in an even fouler mood after his second meditation in twenty-four hours. He contacted his office. He was in such a bad temper that he couldn't even deal with the normal formalities of his senatorship. "I am sorry," he started pleasantly, looking haggard, which he actually felt, once he sublimated the darker emotions, and stressed, which he again, actually felt. "I am not feeling well, with the Queen missing, and the invasion, I'm just not sure that I can hold it together today." He mustered up a plaintive look. 

"Of course, sir. Did you need to cancel all of your appointments today?"

"Yes, I think that would be for the best. Maybe for the rest of the week, as well," he said, really not feeling well at all. "I really am too worried to be able to see to anything today."

"I understand, sir. It's not every day that one's home is invaded by greedy corporate bastards like the Trade Federation. I do hope that we hear from the Queen soon. She's bound to be alright, don't you think?"

"I dearly hope, my boy, I dearly hope."

The assistant, _what was his name?_ looked puzzled. "I have an appointment on here that I didn't make, sir."

"What is it?" he asked, trying not to sound interested, but he suspected that he failed.

"An appointment to go to the Jedi Temple. Your presence has been requested at midday four days from today." _Blast those Jedi_.

"I think I can muster myself up for that, at least. It is an honor that the Jedi have taken the time to see to my pleas. I will see…who was it?"

"It does not say, sir. Just that you are to go to the temple."

"When was this request made?" _I hope this has nothing to do with these visions._

"Yesterday morning." _It shouldn't then. _

Relieved, but unable to show it until he disconnected, was suddenly in a hurry to get off the comm. "Thank you. I will contact you tomorrow, and see what I need to be doing then."

"Certainly, sir. I'll get everything else squared away for you."

"Thank you," he said and turned off the comm. Relief, colored with the horrid anxiety that had been plaguing him since he'd began meditating the night previous, hit him in a wave. He didn't revel in the contact of emotions as he usually did. In fact, the whole ordeal was turning his stomach.

* * *

Qui-Gon watched first Anakin, then Leia descend the stairs. He felt a tumult of emotions coming down from above him. No one else seemed to notice, so he tried not to notice either. It was harder for the older Jedi, though, and shortly Padmé came down, without Luke. 

_Luke? Don't you want to come eat?_

_I'm not really hungry, Master._ Slight tinges of pain seeped through the connection._ I'll be ok. I just need to meditate. _Qui-Gon let it go, returning to the meal, but resolving to get the three of them straightened out, and soon.

* * *

Mace stood outside the Healer's certain that Master Yoda was inside. He collected himself, and entered the chamber. Anakin was humbly bowed before Yoda, having somehow folded his two meter frame into a ball nearly as small as Yoda was. 

"Why did you make an appointment to meet with that slime?"

They both looked at him for further explanation. "Palpatine, Why are you meeting with him?"

"What are you talking about, Master Windu?"

He showed Yoda a datapad, "here, it says that you are to meet with Palpatine."

"Interesting this is. Since Anakin came, seen no one, have I. Asked that appointments that were requested be scheduled starting today, I did. Realized that he had wanted to speak with someone I did not. Work to our advantage, this may. Come with us, Anakin should, do you think, Master Windu? Insight that we cannot otherwise receive, he might provide."

"I'm not sure on that." Mace thought about it for a moment, "I can't really see that it would do any harm."

"Good."

* * *

Leia worried over her brother. He hadn't come down to dinner, and no one had said anything. Padmé had looked really upset by whatever he'd said to her, but now, Anakin was talking Pod racing. She'd never heard of any such thing, and, apparently neither had her mother. They both questioned the boy extensively, trying the patience of Shmi, but his love of flying was quite obvious. It was easier than she thought it would be, just to think of him as a little boy they had just met, rather than the ominous figure that he would eventually become. She started to think of Anakin as a quite charming little boy.

* * *

Anakin, the man who had been Darth Vader, was feeling better than he had been the day before. Mace and Yoda were going to let him out to see Palpatine, under their supervision, and in doing so, Anakin felt there might be a way to help them defeat him. 

_Father, _an all too familiar voice reached out across the stars to him.

_Luke. I am surprised to hear from you._

_Don't be. I am having difficulties. _

_What kind of difficulties, my son?_

_The female kind._

_Ah, I see. What female in your life could give you that kind of difficulty?_

_My mother._

_Ah. She can be a singularly difficult woman, I admit. We were married for over three years, and I had known her ten years before that. _

_She likes me. Well, probably not anymore. She probably hates me now._

_What happened?_

_I don't know. She asked me lots of questions about stuff, and I asked her about stuff, and I don't know._ He sighed. _So she got all mad because I took Jar Jar and Leia out of Watto's shop, and left her alone…_

_With me, when she'd decided that she likes you._

_Leia isn't being any help, in fact she purposefully left us alone together to get everything sorted out._

_And did you?_

_Well, she kind of backed me into a corner, and I kinda told her the truth._

_Kind of?_

_Ok, so I did tell her the truth. She didn't take kindly to me telling her that I was her son. _

_Oh, that truth. She's fourteen, Luke. She doesn't even think in those terms yet. _

_What am I supposed to do about it?_

_She will have to know eventually. She needs to know everything, if we are to succeed in preventing Palpatine's plans. I have discussed this with Master Yoda. I'm not sure that he agrees, but Padmé is too intelligent to have the wool pulled over her eyes without being aware of it, and too headstrong to leave it alone even if it's for her own good. She would have demanded the knowledge from you eventually, there is no doubt about that. _

_Does that mean she needs to know about you?_

_I don't know. She will need to know that killing Palpatine will change the whole dynamic, but she may not need to know all of the details. Yoda and Mace are bent on his destruction. _

_I think she's going to need a few days to cool off._

_She usually doesn't need that long when she loses her temper. But a few hours wouldn't hurt anything. It will give you time to cool as well. _

_How did you two do it, as temperamental as she is, and defiant as you are?_

Anakin laughed, _Love. _

_That's it?_

_Yes. I loved her, and she loved me, and that love came from the depths of our souls, and no force in the universe could have kept us apart.

* * *

_

Luke was standing looking out over the desert, watching the suns set. Leia found him there while…their father showed their mother the pod he was to race to help them get off of planet. Luke was interested, but felt it would be better to stay out of his mother's presence for the time being.

"So, what happened?" Leia asked him.

"I told her the truth," Luke said.

Leia took a deep breath. "And…" Leia prompted when he wasn't forthcoming with any other details.

He continued to stare off into the distance as he answered her. "And our Mother has a hell of a right hook," Luke said, without a trace of humor in his voice.

"She HIT you?" Leia asked, totally surprised by this news.

"Yup, right across the jaw. I don't know how I messed things up so badly with her, Leia. We talked about different stuff. She was asking about life as a Jedi and that led to the nature of the Dark Side, then I told her about Father, without telling her who he was…Sithspit, once she calms down she'll realize that…" Luke hung his head. Leia came over and put an arm around her brother.

"Its ok, Luke. She'll come around. I know you want to know her as badly as I do. You just jumped in with both feet like you always do," Leia said.

"We have to get home, Leia. The more time we spend here, the more damage we do, intentional or not. There's no telling what Father's doing on Corsucant, how much have our presence's altered history? When we get back will any of our friends know us? What kind of world will we be facing?" Luke asked, sounding uncertian and scared.

"Can we get back, Luke? Or are we stuck here?" Leia said.


	21. Darkness

**AN: I give you a warning, this is a dark chapter. Bad things, really bad things, happen. It is the only way to get certain loose ends tied up. I dislike the necessity of this chapter, but it is necessary. About the only really good thing that happens is that no one dies. Yet. Oh, well. You of course have surmised that by the end of this little tale _someone_ will die…haven't you?**

Yoda1976:** Stop teasing because you've been helping me plot this behemoth. It's not nice. **

Fictionfrek101:** There's something better coming. Trust me. But that waits for the next fic. This one, surprisingly is actually fairly close to being done. Everybody just has to get back to Coruscant…**

Teresa: **While that idea really won't work for what I have in mind, it may sit in the pot and stew and I'll do a fic about it later, maybe…**

Jedi Knight 13**: I wasn't really thinking that Anakin would get introduced, just sort of stay quietly in the background, watching, not saying anything. I haven't decided exactly how that meeting is going, as it is now subject to several other plot dynamics. **

Lunatic Pandora1: **I can see the badness in Anakin meeting Palpatine, as can Yoda, but Yoda feels that Anakin is strongly on the good side now, which he is, and it is something of a test for Anakin. If he can reign in his hatred well enough that Palpatine cannot sense it, he will have passed his final test in trust, and Yoda would let him out. There are also many things that Anakin could pick up on, having been that close to the man for that long that Yoda and Mace just would not be able to. Nervous habits that indicate stress or lying, that unless you see someone everyday you don't necessarily clue in on. That outweighs, for Yoda, the possible bad things that could happen if Palpatine figures out who Anakin is. Besides, they can always kill him…**

TriGemini: **Glad that you liked the chapter. Padmé's acceptance of the situation as is, is key to ensuring that Palpatine doesn't ascend into power, which is the focus of Anakin and Luke at this point. Technically Palpatine made the appointment way, way back in like chapter 10, when he came to see Yoda about the disturbance in the Force, but he's forgotten that he did ask for the appointment, but the dude at the front desk didn't. My lips are sealed as to what happens when they get back, if they get back.**

Kelev:** I only promise to kill less people than George Lucas did in Episode I.**

Sidious Sith: **I can't tell you…**

Sand Dragon91**: Thanks for coming to read. Glad you're enjoying it. Padmé and Luke are going to have a talk, so things should be better after that don't you think? As far as the other characters, I am having a bit of trouble keeping everyone straight as is with 11 major characters, then adding in the three minor ones as well…I'll try harder though. As far as battles, I was told "It's George Lucas' fault that Episode I is slow as molasses." So I defer to the reference material. **

* * *

Chapter 21

Luke wiggled out from under the engine that he was working on. He and Ani had been out in the back working on the Pod since before dawn. It was…_interesting_. That was the only word that he had for it. "Try it again," he told Ani.

The engines fired, but died quickly. "Ani, time to go!" Shmi called out the back door.

"Ok. I'll be back in a little while. Don't mess it up." He warned Luke as he left, but it was just nervousness over his Pod.

"Come on R2. Let's see what we can do with this thing." The droid beeped an affirmative response, and followed him around to the other engine. The two of them worked on the Podracer all morning.

He'd eaten breakfast that morning, but preferred to skip lunch, since Ani was there, and they could work on the Pod together.

Jar Jar came out then, with the boy, but Anakin's admonitions that he would get hurt didn't stop him. "Keep away from the binders, Jar Jar. If your hand gets caught in the beam, it'll go numb for hours."

"Okeeday!" Jar Jar said with a big grin on his face. He climbed onto one of the engines with a hydrospanner. Sure enough, Jar Jar dropped the hydrospanner into the engine blades. When he reached into the cowling to get the tool, his mouth hit the energy bindings, to make matters worse, his hand got caught in the engine. Luke couldn't help but laugh at the Gungan's predicament and shook his head and was about to help the poor creature, but his Mother beat him to it. She hadn't acknowledged his presence at all during the day's work. Other than the coolness he felt radiating off of his mother, the day had gone well enough. Qui-Gon came by as they were getting ready to try to start the engine. "Use this power charge," he told Ani, handing the boy a small box. They'd been able to finish the pod, and once Jar Jar was clear, Ani was able to start the engines and they purred like two content kragg cats.

Luke had to smile at the little boy's excitement at their success, he really was starting to wish things had been different and they could have been a family together. He found himself wondering if he and Leia would have had any additional siblings and what they would've been like. He shook his head of the dream, because that really was all it was; a dream. In all likelihood they'd be stuck here, and if they did get home, it would be home and not some idealized version of it. Qui-Gon had gone over and was talking with his Grandmother, about what, Luke didn't know. He started putting the tools away as Ani's friends came over. Luke had to suppress a chuckle at the thought, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, most feared agent of the Emperor had playmates.

* * *

Qui-Gon watched over the "children." He included Luke and Leia in the group, though they were 23—as old as his Padawan, nearly. He wanted to get Padmé and the twins off by themselves, so that they could work on whatever was causing the tension between them, but The Force told him that they did not need his interference. So he watched, and he stewed. They played tag or some equally amusing children's game in the fading twilight, despite the strain that he felt coming from all three of them. 

"Ani seems to like your friends," Shmi said, as she walked up behind Qui-Gon. The littlest girl shrieked, which turned to a fit of giggles as she was caught by one of the older kids. The sound carried clearly to them, and it made Shmi smile.

"Yes. He seems to be getting along with them quite well. I am glad of that."

"He's always made friends easily, but he especially seems to like that Luke. They are like peas in a pod." Shmi said, watching the children playing, since their work was done.

"You should be proud of your son. He gives without thought of reward." Qui-Gon said, wanting to carefully broach the subject of Anakin's unusual strength in the Force.

"Well he knows nothing of greed. He has a..."

"He has special powers."

"Yes..."

"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait."

"He deserves better than a slave's life."

"Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who is his father?"

"There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him, I can't explain what happened." Qui-Gon nodded, this confirming what little he'd gleaned of Anakin's history from his son. "Can you help him?"

"I don't know. I didn't actually come here to free slaves." A plan started to formulate in his head, one that incorporated greed into the equation.

* * *

Palpatine paced about the house, worry tracing furrows in the carpet. He'd tried to contact Lord Maul once, but he hadn't been able to get a hold of him. He tried meditating, but only received repeats and variations on the imagery that he'd already seen. The confounded Jedi and his twin children, at 3, 8, 11, 7, 9, 6, and 13; he'd never seen anyone who looked like they did. The rope was constantly in his way when there was anyone that he wanted to manipulate; now, not only did it protect the Queen and that boy, and several Jedi he couldn't identify by name, but he found flashes of it in all of the visions now. He had a few visions that he couldn't relate to the Jedi, and the rope even appeared in those. He saw himself in the Chancellor's podium, directing the senate towards some end, but the rope was pulling him off the podium. Again when meeting with a Cyborg of some fashion, who glowed green from the inside, he could barley breathe as he tried to talk to the being from the rope being wrapped around him so tightly. And the disaster that would ensue if he ran away was even greater than the one he was seeing if he stayed here. He was a mouse, caught between a cat and a mousetrap. He had nowhere to go even if he did try to leave, with the Trade Federation blockade that he'd engineered standing in his way. Then he saw the rope viper striking out at Darth Maul, but missing. 

A faint glow of triumph rushed through him. His apprentice would be able to continue to carry out his plans, should this prove to be the ultimate disaster that it was looking to be…provided he knew what they were. He started running contingency plans through his mind, using his foresight to try to pick out a route that His Apprentice both could and would follow, should he meet his demise at the hands of the dark haired Jedi. He began thinking about creating a holocron of his own for Maul; it should contain everything that he knew, so the chain of knowledge would remain unbroken. This was key if Maul was to have any success in the bleak future Palpatine now saw.

"The Son of the Suns," he mused wondering if there was anything that he could look up on that reference. It sounded prophetic. He rummaged through a box, one where a holocron was hidden away. He wondered if he would be able to find anything on the prophecy, with that being the most extensive holocron that he owned.

* * *

Later on, after the boys had gotten the pod working, because for all of his maturity, Luke was very much a boy when it came to things that flew, hovered, clanked, or whirred, Padmé and Leia were fixing supper together while Shmi worked on Watto's books, grateful for the chance to get caught up. Padmé took a breath then let it out. She took another breath and let it out. Broaching this subject with the woman she came to think of as a friend was hard, especially if the answers were what she was afraid of. She started to speak three times, and finally Leia broke the silence. 

"Luke tells me you punched him today," she said easily.

"Yeah, I did," Padmé said, wincing at the thought that she'd let her temper get the best of her and feeling a little ashamed about having done it.

"Any reason why?" Leia asked.

"Because, he's a tease and a liar. I didn't know Jedi could be liars," Padmé said, chopping at the vegetables with more vigor.

"What did he say?" Leia asked.

"He said you and he were twins, and that I was your mother. Now why would he say something like that?" Padmé asked.

"Maybe because it's true?" Leia asked.

Padmé hadn't really expected this. Stunned, she asked, "You mean, he was telling the truth?"

"Well, you seem to accept that I am from the future, if you further allow that I am his twin, is really a stretch that you at the very least _could be_ our mother?" Leia asked.

"Are you saying I am?" Padmé asked cautiously; she didn't want it to be true, the awful things Luke told her about his father made her wonder where his mother had been, and why she was unable to protect him from the abuse of his bastard father. She also didn't really want to think about how…they'd been conceived; surly it had to be rape. The monster Luke had described surely couldn't feel real love for anyone. To be able to mutilate your own child the way Luke was. She shuddered to think about it.

"As far as we know, yes," Leia said quietly.

"And…and how do you know this?" tears were stinging Padmé's face.

Leia swallowed, and then said, "Our father told him."

"When…when did Luke learn this?" Padmé asked, tears freely falling now. Fear gripped her throat, fear of the rape she KNEW had to be in her future, fear of failing her babies. So many questions, and she was almost too afraid to ask them.

"I'm not sure. He's only been able to talk to…our father…since he arrived here. Our father came with him," Leia said, not entirely masking the ambivalence that she felt about Vader's presence.

"There's something else, isn't there? You are afraid of him aren't you?" The fear Padmé felt grew, _what if he was hunting them now?_

Leia sighed. "I don't know anymore. Luke says…"

"When where you and Luke born?" Padmé asked through the tears, disregarding Leia's wavering answer.

"We were born just as the Emperor was taking over, and that doesn't happen for about thirteen years," Leia said.

"Then is your father alive, here and now?" Padmé asked.

"Yes, he's just a child though," Leia said.

"Who is he?" Padmé asked.

"That is a conversation you'd better have with Luke…Mother," Leia said.

"I need to know, Leia, and I want to hear it from you," Padmé said.

"The boy who will be our father is upstairs right now working on a protocol droid," Leia said quietly.

Padmé couldn't believe her ears, that sweet innocent boy was going to rape her and mutilate her son and do who knows what to her daughter. She burst into tears.

* * *

Darth Maul felt tremors in the Force, dark ones. He'd been through Mos Eisley, and was headed for Mos Espa, on this force-forsaken planet. The heat alone was enough to kill the unwary, not to mention the fact that there was no water anywhere. Not that he hadn't been worse off before, but he'd never been to such a universally wretched place in all of his 22 years. Not that he'd actually been that many places. His Master…oh, yes, his Master. Those dark tremors, ones he was so sensitive to, were troubled thoughts on the wind from his Master. All was not well on Coruscant. He stopped the _Bloodfin_, and got off, entering the _Scimitar_ and prepared to make contact with his Master. 

It took less time than he thought, _not a good sign_. If his Master wasn't keeping up the appearance of the kindly senator things were not right at all.

"Master," Maul said kneeling when Sidious appeared.

"Lord Maul, rise. There have been numerous tremors in the Force; we may have to rethink our strategy." Sidious said.

"I have felt them, my Master. Are there any changes in your orders for me?" Maul asked, not really expecting any.

"Not yet, I still wish you to kill Qui-Gon Jinn, but do NOT put yourself in extensive danger, my Apprentice," Sidious said.

"I understand, my Master," Maul said.

"I will be creating a holocron for you, should my death happen prematurely; I will place it where you will be able to find it, but no one else," Sidious added, this Maul didn't expect, his Master clearly was worried if he was going to take the time and effort to store all of his knowledge in a holocron.

"I understand, Master," Maul said.

"Now, find Qui-Gon Jinn, and destroy him," Sidious said and the connection closed.

* * *

Padmé wept that night as she waited in her room. She knew what she had to do, but it wasn't easy. He was only a little boy, one who was trying to help them, but he would grow, and in time he would be a monster. 

"_Ani! Please, don't do this!" She screamed as he tore at her clothes._

"_It's me! We were friends once! Don't!" she screamed, his only response a low lustful growl._

"_No…this can't be happening!" she whimpered._

_He hovered over her and reached down to his belt…_

She woke with a start, sweat pouring off of her. It was a dream, just a dream. She then knew she HAD to do it. She would miss Luke and Leia, but the murderous feind had to be stopped before raping the galaxy… and her. She so wanted children someday, but she wanted them to born of love, not an act of…perversion. She took her hold-out blaster, it would be enough. She had to end this. Tears came to her face as she approached Ani's room…no not Ani's room, the monster's room. Ani was a sweet child; she wanted to remember him as such. Not the monster he will become. She wept for what she was about to do, she entered his room, raised the blaster and he stirred. She gasped, _was he awake? No…just turning over in his sleep,_ he was facing her now. _Dear Force, why did he have to be facing her_? Her blaster was aimed at his cute little face, the dimple in his chin stood out in sharp relief to the rest of his face. It was adorable…he's a monster…he must be stopped she told herself harshly and reaimed the blaster. It was just as well he was facing her, she didn't really want to shoot him in the back anyway.

"Mother? What are you doing?" Luke's voice sounded quietly behind her. It startled her and she almost pulled the trigger in response but didn't…why?

"I'm stopping an evil, son. He's a monster, you told me that," she said, the tears coming back.

"No, Mother," he said, taking her by the shoulders, "he WAS a monster, and he MIGHT BE a monster, not is a monster. The future is not set, it is always in motion. Now give me the blaster and let me tell you the WHOLE story," Luke said.

"Of how he raped me, of how he tortured you?" Padmé spat.

"Raped you? Who told you that?" Luke asked confused.

"It's the only thing that makes sense, I would NEVER marry someone capable of doing what you said your father did, therefore it had to be rape," Padmé said.

"You're wrong, Mother, about many things, now give me the blaster and let me tell you the truth," Luke said again.

"No…no this has to end. I have to end it now," Padmé said, trying to turn out of Luke's grip, back to her task.

"This isn't you, Mother. Let go of your fear, it's blinding you, give me the blaster," Luke said, "It wasn't too long ago that I had a similar conversation with Father, please don't shut me out like he did then."

She looked from her son to the little boy and back again, she broke down into full blown tears and threw herself into Luke's arms, who gently led her down into the kitchen for a long overdue conversation.

"Do you understand now?" Luke asked her once they were downstairs.

She was still weeping and the cobwebs throughout her skull made it hard to think, "Understand what?"

"How easy it is to fall to the Dark Side," Luke said simply.

"But I didn't…I'm not…It's impossible!" she said, _why is he doing this?_ she already felt awful for…dear spirits what HAD she almost done?

"Not impossible. Fear, anger, hate. These are the things the Dark Side feeds on. Just look at you, you were ready to kill an innocent little boy because of fear," Luke said.

"I…I don't know what to say Luke…I….I'm a terrible Mother and you must hate me now," tears poured from her eyes as the words came out halting and broken.

Luke, the dear man that he was looked at her with nothing but compassion in his eyes, "No, Mother, I don't hate you, for the same reason I don't hate Father. I love you, but you really had me worried there for a minute," Luke said.

This sent Padmé into a new fit of tears, he was forgiving her, she who had almost done the unforgivable, she had done it in her mind, and she would have done it if he hadn't…stopped her; he saved her from herself.

"Oh, Luke. I'm ready to listen now," Padmé said.

"Yes, I think you'll have a much better understanding of Father's perspective and role in the whole thing now that you've had the smallest taste of the Darkness," Luke said.

"That was a SMALL taste? It's pretty bitter," Padmé said, with a little forced laugh.

Luke smiled at her, "Yes, after the fact it does taste bad, but in the moment, how did it feel?"

She thought about it for a few moments before answering. "Empowering…I was scared, doubtful, but also empowered. That part was intoxicating," Padmé said, blowing her nose.

"Yes, exactly, now imagine that you can use the Force and that feeling of empowerment is all too real," Luke said.

"Dear spirits, Luke, how does any Jedi resist it?" Padmé asked horror at just how easily she let it happen, how easy it would be to happen to anyone.

"The same way you did; we stay connected," Luke said.

"But the Jedi are forbidden attachment," Padmé said, confused.

"Yes, but we are connected; to the Force, and to each other, also, in my time the Jedi are all but wiped out, I'm the last one. Master Yoda died just after telling me the truth of who my father was," Luke said.

"Leia said the same thing; that the Jedi were wiped out. Now, tell me, how does a cute little boy end up a monster?" Padmé asked.

"Love," Luke said.

"Love?" Padmé asked, stunned.

"And a healthy dose of fear and manipulation from a man he trusted," Luke added.

"Fear, of what?"

"Your death," Luke said.

"And how was I supposed to die?" Padmé asked.

"Giving birth to Leia and me. He had a vision about that happening, and after the vision involving Grandmother, he went off the deep end. I'm not so sure that Palpatine didn't place the vision into his head to drive him off it," Luke said.

"So he thought I would die in childbirth and that fear drove him to the Dark Side," Padmé restated.

"That sums it up. He trusted Palpatine would be able to save you; or rather he had the knowledge to save you. He gave up everything for that chance, gave up everything out of fear and his love for you. The Dark Side twisted that love, made a mockery of it, and in the end it caused him to destroy the very thing he was trying to save. He didn't even know that we were alive until we were grown," Luke finished.

"That is so sad," Padmé said.

"Yes, it is. When I start teaching Jedi when I get home, _if_ I get home, I intend to use the story as a lesson on the nature of the Dark Side. Knowing WHY he turned is so much more important than knowing that he DID turn. You learned that tonight," Luke said.

"Just when did my son get so wise?" Padmé asked, feeling more like she was talking with Qui-Gon Jinn at the moment.

"It happens when you have to save the souls of your parents, I guess," Luke said with a lopsided grin. Padmé leaned over and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you for saving your father, and thank you for saving me. We've got an early day tomorrow, we should get some sleep," Padmé said.

"Awww…MOM, just five more minutes," Luke said in his best five-year-old brat voice. Padmé smacked his shoulder, laughing.

"Not funny," she said as she started up to her room.

"Yes it was," he said following her.


	22. Duel of the Fates

**AN:I have a big paper to write (nothing interesting, a 10 page research paper on "The Great Vowel Shift" :P) So I will be taking a couple of days off from writing this. Just in time to make you suffer from this big cliffie...Sorry. I should be able to get something up afterward.**

fictionfrek101:** Not telling. Nope, mouth sealed on this one, and not even a big scary tickle-monster could get it out of me. **

TriGemini:**Leia didn't and wouldn't have encouraged the line of thinking that** **Padmé was on. She didn't realize what her mother was thinking or she would have put a stop to it. Luke is able to connect with both of his parents, and he's very happy to be able to do so, although most 23 year olds don't have that much in common with many nine year olds. Nine year olds tend to be both overlooked and oblivious to a lot of the undercurrents of the adult interaction around them, and there's something else, but you'll have to read.**

ennui deMorte: **Thanks for the opinion. I'm happy that you liked it, and didn't think it was too dark. This chapter has some Dark Side issues as well, but, well, you'll see. **

Teresa: **I'm glad that you made the connection that _anyone_ can fall to the dark side given the correct circumstances. It takes less than most of us would be comforatable realizing. Disconnection and loss. That's about it. I'm glad that you like the bonding, and I'm not so sure that Palpy's fear of this rope is not justified. I can't tell any more about what's going to happen, but more unfolds this chapter...**

Rose-Aislin: **Glad you're liking it. Maul should worry you, he is a Sith...**

Kelev, twisterblake, LD:** Can't tell you...**

Jean, alan22:** Thank you for joining the story!**

* * *

Chapter 22

Anakin woke bolt upright in bed, visions still parading across his vision as his breathing and heart rate slowed to their normal pace. He slowly lowered the mechanical limbs attached to his legs over the edge of the bed so that he could sit and think for a few moments. He could have new ones today, if he wanted them. He still wasn't sure on that part. It might be for the best. Just get rid of that awful suit, burn it, let the last vestige of Darth Vader be released into nothingness, especially with the dream that he'd been having. He'd hovered in a place that he knew well; watching his younger self sleep, then his Angel, tears streaming down her face had come into the room, he knew this because of the way that she held herself, the way she always did when she cried, and she was wiping her eyes with her sleeve. He saw her through the force as well, her normally ordinary Force signature alive with dark crackling evil light. Luke then came into the room. His touch, his presence made the darkness stronger, for a moment, it tried to take Luke, bring him into darkness as well, but Luke, burning with the pure whiteness of a Jedi, drove it back. When everything returned to normal, something else had happened, as well, Luke's Force signature had changed again, as it had the moment that he'd thrown down his Lightsaber in front of the Emperor, and declared, "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." This had been a test of the strength of their family.

* * *

Padmé got up that morning, and felt immensely better. The talk that she'd had with Luke had been hard, but it was good. Everything was open between them now, and while it wasn't anything like she expected it to be, she understood more than she had before, and she hoped that it wasn't too late for there to be a change in the future. Luke had said that Ani had had visions, and that had been what started the whole thing, first his mother, then her. She got caught up in the whirlwind of household activity then, leaving her little time to think about anything that far in the future.

* * *

Qui-Gon watched Padmé carefully the next morning, and noted with relief that the strain in her relationship with both of the twins had eased considerably, if it hadn't entirely disappeared. Satisfied that he wouldn't need to interfere, he went out to find Watto before the race and took Jar Jar with him. If there was one thing that Gungan was good for, it was getting into trouble, especially when Qui-Gon wasn't around.

* * *

Padmé waited with the others as the time for the race drew nearer. Two Eopies were being sent for the pod, and they would enter with the Pod. She watched Anakin playing with his friends. _I'm going to marry him? _She questioned herself. _I'm not so sure how that's going to work…maybe it would be ok after my reign as queen is finished, and if I'm elected to another term, I would be 22 then, and he would be 17…maybe Luke knows when we got married. I'll ask him later. Ani is rather cute though…for a nine year old._

Lost in thought she hadn't even noticed the arrival of the Eopies. Ani had grabbed her hand, and was trying to pull her up, "Come on Padmé! They are here, it's time to go!"

She laughed at his exuberance, and let him drag her over to one of the beasts. "Do we ride it?"

"Yeah, it's great fun, come on!"

She helped him up onto the beast, and then got up herself, and Shmi got onto the other one with one of the little boys that Ani ran around with, she thought it might be Kitster. Luke and Leia finished hooking the engines up to the Eopies, and along with the other children they walked beside the beasts, and the two droids walked along behind them with R2 pulling the pod. She let herself enjoy the feeling, and pushed away thoughts that if Luke hadn't…but he had, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Luke walked along with the beasts of burden, making sure the engines weren't getting damaged. He heard R2's beeping, then 3PO exclaim, "Oh, my! Space travel sounds rather perilous."

"R2," he said in a warning tone, and the droid beeped back at him, "stop trying to scare 3PO." The droid beeped, but it wasn't a series that he was familiar with, but he stopped telling that story to 3PO.

* * *

Padmé watched as they entered the hanger, where Qui-Gon was talking to Watto. "Ouna bakeesa. Bonapa keesa pateeso, o wanna meetee chobodd," he said to Ani, chuckling as he left for his box.

"What'd he mean by that?" Ani asked Qui-Gon.

"I'll tell you later." Qui-Gon said to him. He turned to Shmi, offering his hand to help her down, "Good morning." He said to her.

Padmé hadn't understood Watto's words, but Luke was there now helping both of them down, first Ani, then her. It was hard for her to think how just _what two days ago?_ how thrilling that would have been for her, and now, it was just…something else entirely.

The boy who'd been riding with Shmi came over to them, saying, "This is so wizard Ani! I'm sure you'll do it this time!"

"Do what?" she asked.

"Finish the race, of course!" the boy said.

"You've never won a race?" she asked.

"Well... not exactly..." Ani said.

"Not even finished?!" she asked in horror, and he looked sheepishly at her.

"... Kitster's right, I will this time," he told her confidently.

"Of course you will." Qui-Gon said, having come over to see them. She looked at Qui-Gon with concern, but didn't let the dread that she felt overwhelm her. Luke would know…

"Yes," she told Ani. "Of course you will." She kissed him on the cheek. "A kiss for good luck."

"Wizard…" Ani said, putting his hand up where she'd just kissed him.

"EWWW!" Kitster said.

* * *

Luke tightened the last strap. "That should do it. What do you think R2?" R2 blew a raspberry at him. "Hey that's not nice."

"Master Luke, he says that he could have done it by himself in less time."

"Is that so?" he looked at R2. "Well, I'm sure he'll come around in time…"

"Oh, certainly. I do hope to see Master Ani win this race, don't you, sir?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll win." Ani came over to them. "We're all set here. You want help up?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Luke boosted Ani into the cockpit, as Qui-Gon was walking over to them.

"You all set, Ani?"

"Yep."

"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Use your instincts."

"I will."

"May the Force be with you," he said, and then turned to Luke. "Come on. It's time we got back to the others." They followed the droids back, but as he was leaving he heard something, and turned to see Ani arguing with another racer.

"Bazda wahota, shag. Dobiella Nok." The dug said menacingly

"Cha skrundee da pat, sleemo" Ani shot back, not intimidated in the least by him.

"Yoka to Bantha poodoo." The dug said as he walked away.

* * *

Palpatine set about building his holocron; or rather, it was more like growing it. The basic construction was similar to that of any holocron, what made a Sith holocron special though, was the living presence that they possessed. Literately a small piece of the creator's soul went into the process. It took many hours of meditating to get the process started, then the spirit of the holocron needed to be properly nurtured. In this case, it meant torture, the spirit guardian had to come to hate its creator, so it would be strong in the Dark Side, yet this had to be done carefully so the spirit wasn't SO opposed to its creator that it would turn from the Order of the Sith. This was the principle reason that Sith holocrons were so rare. Palpatine did the final preparations by basically telling the spirit in the holocron the truth as he saw it; that the holocron was an imperfect creation, a poor copy of the original, and only being created out of necessity.

During the meditation to create the holocron he became more and more convinced that his time was coming to a premature end. His visions kept getting more and more terrifying. He could barely close his eyes at times before the visions would descend upon him, whether he was meditating or not. He finally finished the first stage of the process, the actual creation of the physical item and the Guardian inside. Now he had but four days to impart all the knowledge that he wished to give Maul.

* * *

Leia got up onto the viewing platform with everyone else, with Shmi holding a datapad, and Padmé and Leia to either side of her. Luke and Qui-Gon finally got on the platform, and it started its assent. "Is he nervous?" Shmi asked Qui-Gon.

"He's fine," Qui-Gon reassured her, glancing at the data pad over Padmé's shoulder.

A gong sounded from somewhere, and the racers took off, all except Anakin and another racer. Leia winced when Anakin's engines failed. Luke admired how Anakin worked to restart his engine, and then took off in hot pursuit of the others. His grandmother, mother and sister were aghast at how fast the race was and both Padmé and Leia shut their eyes when the first wreck happened, obviously killing the pilot. Shmi watched with a somewhat detached concern, Luke realized that she was seeing nothing new, where Padmé and Leia were seeing this for the first time. Leia buried her face in Luke's arm as Ani flew through an explosion cause by a pod hitting a stalactite in a cave. The race continued with the remaining racers crossing in front of the stands to start the second lap. Ani was moving up in the field which was being systematically thinned both by the hazard's on the course and Sebulba's underhanded shenanigans.

"Is he allowed to cheat like that?" Padmé asked at one point when Sebulba threw something into the intake fan of a Pod that was about to pass him.

"Its encouraged, there's even a special prize for the best cheater that Jabba himself awards," Shmi informed her.

"That's…that's… That's barbaric!" Padmé said.

"For a Hutt, it's downright civilized," Leia said rolling her eyes, "Especially Jabba, if half of what I've heard is true."

On turn two of the second lap a few Tuskan Raiders took up positions on a bluff and started taking pot shots at the racers, actually shooting one down. Padmé turned away as Ani ran that gauntlet. Jar Jar by this point had long ago covered his eyes, and was whimpering things like, "He musta crash-ed, by now." The carnage continued below as Ani gained on Sebulba, and Sebulba sent another racer careening into Ani's pod, unhooking one of the engines. Later on, something broke loose on Ani's pod and one of the engines started smoking all three women gasped in fear. Luke watched on in fascination as the little boy fixed the problem and got back into the race, where Sebulba pushed him off the track. _Obi-Wan had said he was an excellent pilot_, and in Luke's estimation old Ben had been understating it. _Ani handled his pod like a pro, no, like it was an extension of himself_. He made a controlled thrust, getting right back into the action. As they came on the final stretch Ani and Sebulba's pod's got hooked together. They fought for the lead this way, Sebulba swinging something at Ani's head, then Ani broke free and Sebulba's pod crashed, his engines blowing up, leaving the way clear for Ani to win the race.

* * *

"Jar Jar, Luke, Get the handmaidens and let's go. We've got to get these parts back to the ship." Qui-Gon said, having already hitched the Eopies up to the load. He assisted Padmé up, while Luke put Leia on the other Eopie with Jar Jar. "I'll be back before midday," he said to Ani and Shmi as they took off toward the ship.

* * *

Maul had found his quarry; the older Jedi was leading a wagon of parts back to his ship. Then he left alone. Maul considered his situation. This would be the ideal time to strike, however his Master was convinced he was going to die soon, he wouldn't be making a holocron if that wasn't the case. That meant that Maul needed to find an apprentice of his own. He wondered if he should even attack the older Jedi. The Sith's greatest strength was being hidden, however he so wanted to test his skills with a Jedi Master. He continued to watch the path to the city, as the older Jedi entered. What was he going after? It must be important. He continued to watch. After less than an hour the old man came out of the city, with a small boy in tow. Maul stretched out with the Force and was shocked, this little boy was powerful. Very powerful. Maul thought about taking him for an apprentice; however the Jedi's presence would prove problematic. He had to make a choice, and Maul did. He hopped on to the bike, and headed down after the two of them.

As Maul approached the twosome, the boy was falling behind. He struck the older Jedi with force lightning, knocking the older man down a sand dune. He dispised the Force trick, but it did have its uses, and a Sith never disregards a tool. He then jumped off of the bike and ignited his Lightsaber and walked towards the boy. He brought up his blade intent on striking down this threat, as he brought his blade down though, the child rolled, causing him to miss his mark, instead severing the boy's left arm off just below the elbow. The boy screamed in agony and crumpled.

* * *

Halfway across the galaxy Anakin felt the blade cut through his nine-year-old arm. The pain was intense, and he found himself looking out of his nine-year-old eyes. His nine-year-old mind was quickly losing consciousness from shock. Anakin quickly found that he could control his nine-year-old body quite easily. He reached out with the Force and found Qui-Gon's Lightsaber and pulled it to his nine-year-old hand. The tattooed murderer was coming for him.

"You should have stayed still, it wouldn't have been as painful," the creature was saying to him. His opponent raised his blade and Anakin gave a desperate yank through the Force that sent Qui-Gon's Lightsaber flying through the air and into his small hand. The weapon was too big and unwieldy, but surprise was on Anakin's side, he ignited the blade and beat aside what would've been a killing blow, the shock on the Sith's face was legendary. Anakin forced his battered nine-year-old body up, it was sluggish, and that was more than just the shock of the wound, he never dreamed he was THIS out of shape at nine; the motions that survival required would HURT. However pain was one thing Anakin had learned to deal with VERY well.

Anakin struck with all of his skill and strength, augmented by the Force. He leapt at the Sith monster, aiming to end the fight reasonable quickly because there was only so far he could push his younger body. The Sith, parried blow after blow with skill and determination, shock being replaced by anger, then rage at the fact that his helpless prey had proved to be not so helpless after all.

"So, the whelp can fight, interesting," the tattooed freak said.

"Go back to Hell, where you came from Sith slime, tell your Master that the Son of Suns is on his trail and will be making the kill soon," Anakin said.

This sent his tattooed opponent into a rage, he struck viscously, but without purpose, Anakin parried them, both skillfully and with purpose. However, blackness was coming in from the edges of his vision; he had to end this soon. He batted away one blow, then leaped, kicking the taller Sith to the sand, his blade only in one hand, Anakin saw his opportunity to end the fight. He brought his blade down on the Sith's arm, and with his remaining strength used the Force to send the Sith's lightsaber, with the arm still attached, flying into the approaching Obi-Wan's grasp, then blackness overtook him.


	23. Tending wounds

**AN: Wow. I'm up to 200 reviews. This isn't as much as some stories that I've read, and is more than others, but it seems respectable, considering this is the first fiction that I've published. I'm happy to see that I've gotten almost universally positive reviews for this unconventional start. This is a transitional chapter, so it takes place over the 36 hours or so that follow the last chapter. **

Teresa: **Sorry, no skewering, at least not in this chapter. I can't say what Dooku will be doing in the future. You'll get to see more about Palpy's rope fears... and that's all I can tell you. **

Kelev:** I'm sorry it was so bad. I did do a bit of catch up, since I took a day off from writing for another project. Three days' wait really isn't that bad of a deal, considering I would normally rate this particular chapter at four days (8 pages 1-2 pages a day) although I may have to reconsider my rate...(Nah. 108 pages in 71 days)**

KSkywalker1:**Your fears are unfounded. Qui-Gon lived through it. It was just a short burst to knock him out of the fight while Maul took care of Ani...not that things went according to his plan.**

DanaeMariSkywalker:**Thank you for joining in, and no, I don't think that Ani will figure this one out. **

Wawoot:**Glad to see that you've caught up. We'll see what happens next...**

**I'm glad that everyone liked the fight in the desert. I was slightly apprehensive about it, but saw how well that was fitting into the overall storyline. Now onward we press, into the future...**

* * *

Chapter 23

Obi-Wan was horrified at the thing that he instinctively put his hands out to catch. _That little boy did that?_ He thought, shocked at what he'd just seen with his own eyes. Before Obi-Wan could collect himself enough to fight the Sith, though it really wouldn't have been much of a fight, he'd already taken off and gotten aboard a speederbike. _We'll never catch him, even if we had time to give chase. _He watched Luke slide the last step in the sand to the boy, "Anakin," Luke called out to the boy, but he was unresponsive, and concern for his own Master overtook the Padawan, as he'd come rushing out because he'd sensed a great pain that had been inflicted on his Master. He released the Sith's Lightsaber from the grasp of the hand that was attached to it, attaching it to his belt, and going over to see about Qui-Gon, who was barely conscious, and needed his Padawan's support to get back to the ship. Luke had scooped up the boy, and was already most of the way to the ship. The two handmaidens crowded him as he entered the ship. He'd gotten close enough to hear the panicked words of one of the girls.

"What happened? Is he alright?" Padmé asked. Obi-Wan could hardly tell the two of them apart until they spoke. Padmé was quieter, more innocent. Leia was confident, demanding, and slightly brash. Both of them acted like they were used to being the one giving the orders, which he found strange, since they were both servants to the Queen.

"He should be fine, but we need to lay him down, he's in shock." Luke told them as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan started up the ramp.

"But how…?" Padmé asked, not even having to finish the question before Luke replied to her. _That was odd_.

"Lightsaber. Probably that Sith." _Yes, that must have been about the first thing that happened. _

They were halfway down the hall to the back room, but Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were just making it onto the ship. "Go get us off the ground. The sooner we get back to Coruscant the better." Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan.

"How was he fighting? He hasn't even begun his training yet." Leia asked.

"I don't know, but it was fortunate that he was able to. He saved both of our lives." Qui-Gon told her, before Obi-Wan entered the cockpit, and was unable to hear any more of the conversation.

* * *

Padmé felt the silence more than she did most nights. She was up watching over Ani, at her own insistence. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. She had some food and water, and he was to try to eat and drink if he woke up, but neither of the Jedi expected that to happen. She sighed, the sound of her own breath loud to her even, and glanced over to the corner, where R2 had shut down for the night. "Padmé?" little Ani's voice brought her attention back to him.

"Oh, Ani," was all she could say, she was so choked up about his injury.

"What happened?"

"Do you remember coming across the desert with Qui-Gon?"

He shivered, "I'm cold."

"I'll get you another blanket." Padmé told him, getting one from the foot of the pallet. They hadn't wanted him too warm, but if he got too cold, it could kill him.

"I remember. Then there was this guy, Ugly, red and black, and he came at us on a speederbike."

"Yes. Do you remember him hurting you?" she picked up the glass of water, helping him to sit up. "You need to eat and drink a little bit, if you can."

"Yes," he said slowly. "I don't remember anything else though." She got him to drink about half the water, and then he wanted to talk some more. "You seem sad."

"I'm sad because you got hurt. The Queen is sad as well, because you were hurt when you only tried to help us."

Anakin wiggled around under the blankets, and pulled something out. "I made this for you, yesterday." He gave her a necklace, "so you'd remember me. I carved it out of a Japor snippet. It will bring you good fortune."

She was stunned. He'd made something for her with his hands, something that he'd never be able to do again, and still he wanted to give it to her. She put it on. "It's beautiful, but I don't need anything to remember you by. I could never forget you, Anakin. You are the bravest person I have ever met," She picked up the protein bar, "here; you need to eat some, if it doesn't upset your stomach."

"Ok." He said, blushing at her words as he took a piece of the bar in his hand, as he still hadn't put it back under the blanket.

"We'll be at the Capital in a couple of days, once there the Jedi said you'll have the best medical care in the Galaxy," she told him, glad he didn't seem to be in much pain.

"Will you be there?" Ani asked, sounding hopful.

"If I can be, but you can't forget the reason we are going. I have to assist the Queen with her presentation to the Senate, but Luke and Leia will definiately be with you," she said, touched that he wanted her nearby.

"Good. Almost perfect, if only…" he started, trailing off.

"…Your mother could be here." She finished for him. He nodded, and she put her hand on his forehead, brushing back his sweaty hair.

"Will I see you again after we get to the Capital?" he asked again, sleep coming back over him

"I don't know, Ani." She answered as he slipped into unconciousness, and she wept again for him. She didn't know how to take this grievous injury on an innocent boy.

* * *

Palpatine started the delicate work of imprinting his knowledge onto the Holocron, and then the even more important work of explaining the Path to the destruction of the Jedi. He knew the best way to kill as many Jedi as possible was to get them involved in a war. His predecesors had laid the groundwork of the coming conflict for generations, sowing the seeds of distrust of the Republic in outlying systems, until much of the outer rim didn't really feel part of the Republic. Getting the great commercil guilds and companies to forgo any real sense of citizenship in the Republic was easily done. There was more work to do however. The planting of visions into that fool Syfo-Dias had been child's play. He was already paranoid and now that he was on his way to Kamino to order the clone army, he would have to be dealt with. However it was becoming all too clear that it would be Maul that would have to deal with that problem. Palpatine closed his eyes, the rope was still there, now starting to wrap itself around his neck, and he was running out of time.

* * *

Luke woke up, carefully checking the state of the people on the ship. Everyone was asleep, except Padmé who was almost there. He got up and got dressed, quietly, then went to the room where they were keeping Ani.

"Hi, Luke."

"Hey. How's he been?"

He woke up once, and I got him to eat about half this thing, and drink about half the water." She indicated the glass. "I asked him what he remembers, and he only remembers through his arm getting cut off, before they started fighting."

"I'll ask Father about it. He might know what's going on. You are dead on your feet, though. Go to bed, I'll watch him."

She stood, and swayed a little bit. "I didn't realize I was quite this tired."

He kissed her on the forehead, which, instead of getting her all twitterpated, just felt natural now. "Go, you need to rest, regain your strength. The battle that you have coming up in the Senate is no less important than the one he fought out there on the sand. He'll be fine," Luke reassured her again.

She left, headed for the Queen's chambers. Luke sat down, sighing. R2 activated, and came over, beeping worriedly. "He's been awake R2. He'll pull through."

"I'm going to meditate for a bit though, if you can watch over him?" R2 beeped an affirmative. "Good." He let out the breath that he was holding, and felt out through the Force _Father?_

The response was nearly immediate. _Luke. I've been waiting for you to try to contact me. _

_Why didn't you tell me that you got hurt on this mission?_

_I _didn't _get hurt on this mission. _

_You said something about when you fought on Mustafar with Obi-Wan, that he took your three remaining natural limbs. _

_He did. I lost my right arm in a duel with Count Dooku when I was 19, right below the elbow. _

_Oh. This is a big change then, isn't it?_

_Yes. I'm not sure what's going to happen now._

_Do you know what happened?_

_Yes, well, sort of. I felt like my arm was on fire, then I found myself in my nine-year-old self's body._

_You took possession of it?_

_In a cursory examination of the situation, I felt that I had to. Qui-Gon was lying on the sand, neither you nor Obi-Wan was around, and Darth Maul was coming at me. I simply defended the body of my nine-year-old self. I wasn't going to just let him kill me. I wouldn't have you or Leia if I'd done that. _

_What does this mean? I mean, you loosing your arm 10 years before you originally did?_

_I don't know, son, but whatever it means, I don't like it. Everything happens for a reason, but I can't see what possible reason there is for a nine year old to loose his arm. _

_Does it mean an acceleration of the time-line of the destruction of the Jedi?_

_Possibly. I don't know. _

_What can we do about it, Father?_

_Be vigilant. I don't know of anything specific. _

_Alright. I'll let you know if there's anything else that happens. _

_Thank you. Do you have the boy in a healing trance?_

_A what?_

_Let me show you._ Anakin directed Luke's movements through the Force, and together they initiated a healing trance in Ani's body.

* * *

Qui-Gon had been up for some time. He'd meditated, and eaten, and meditated, and talked to Obi-Wan, and talked to the Queen, and talked to Captain Panaka. He sighed. He didn't want to go talk to Luke, or see the boy right then. There was more going on that what he could see, or feel with the Force. He got up, working at it. He felt like an old arthritic man, not a Jedi just past his prime. He sighed. It was time that he went and had that discussion.

"Luke."

"Oh, hi, Master Qui-Gon. Is there something that I can do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Oh, right. I suppose I can do that." He got up, to let the Master have the one chair in the room. "Here, sit. Force Lightning can take a lot out of you."

"How did you know?"

"I've recently had the displeasure."

"Ah." He settled in the chair. "What do you know about what happened?"

"Hmm. Some. You were knocked out by Force Lightning, right? After that Maul went after Ani. We don't know why. He probably intended to kill him, but the boy dodged in some way. Father felt the injury, and as his," he indicated the boy with a wave of his hand, "mind went unconscious, Father was able to take over. He defended both of you."

"Well that explains that. I'm certainly happy that I am not dead. I don't understand how or why this has happened, though."

"I doubt anyone does. Maybe we'll be able to find out once we get back to Coruscant."

* * *

Mace looked over at Anakin Skywalker again. He listened as the Healer told him one of her various theories about why he was suddenly deep within the Force and also unconscious. She had several times come upon him when he was in this _deep within the Force_ state, but he was typically aware of her presence, and within moments would be awake. He would sometimes do this when she wanted to do some medical treatment or another. Other than the connection to the Force, all of his symptoms were indicative of shock, which she didn't understand. He was improving slowly, but she didn't know how long it would be until he woke.

* * *

Darth Maul contacted his Master. He'd failed to kill his target, he'd failed to kill a nine-year-old boy, and what was really bad about the situation was that said nine-year-old boy had removed his hand, with his Lightsaber still in it. He'd blatantly disregarded his Master's warning not to get into any dangerous situations, and he'd gotten hurt because of it. All of these things were running through his head as he contacted his Master. "Master." He said to the screen, having been almost immediately able to contact his Master once again. He hadn't been to the Senate in several days. This was not a good sign at all.

"My Apprentice. I am working on your Holocron. Are you contacting me to inform me of your victory over Qui-Gon Jinn?"

"No, Master. I failed, I am sorry. I found him and the Queen's ship, and saw that he was returning to the city once more. I waited to see what prize he was retrieving before attacking him. He'd found a boy that was incredibly strong with the Force. I've never seen a mere child so strong. I felt that this child would be a threat to the Sith. I attempted to destroy him, before taking out Qui-Gon."

"Attempted, my Apprentice?"

"Yes, my Master. I knocked Jinn to the ground with Force Lightning, and then tried to kill the boy."

"Tried, my Apprentice?"

"Yes, Master. He rolled out of the way at the last second. I only succeeded in severing the child's arm. He looked like he was going to collapse from the shock, so I went to try to kill him again, and the little whelp picked up Jinn's Lightsaber and blocked me. We fought for several minutes, and then he said, 'Go back to the Hell you came from, Sith slime, tell your Master that the Son of Suns is on his trail and will be making the kill soon.'" Palpatine's expression didn't change, but waves of fear hit him like a freighter through the Force and his Bond with his Master.

"Are you sure that's what he said, my Apprentice?"

"Yes, my Master. After he said that, he kicked me, and spun, taking my hand." Maul held up the bandaged stump.

"I have no reason to believe that this is anything serious, my Apprentice, perhaps it was a young Jedi Padawan that had strayed too far from his master. You may return home to be treated for your injury, and I'll investigate this 'Son of Suns.'"

"I understand, my Master."

* * *

Leia shooed Luke from the room, since he'd been watching the boy all day. "Go eat something, and rest." She told him, in a tone of voice that sounded more like a drill sergeant than a Princess. She watched Ani, his peaceful face, and the slow breathing of sleep made her look at him with a bit of wonder. He wasn't a monster. She couldn't reconcile the idea in her head that this little boy would become the evil man that had been able to torture his own child. Not that he'd known, at least not for sure. She looked at Padmé sometimes and felt like she was looking in a mirror. They were different, she'd taken on some of the harder lines that her father's genes had produced, but she very much looked like her mother. She looked down at the boy, who looked so very much like another boy that she'd met, direct off of Tatooine, with the same unruly tangled mop of sandy blonde hair. She smiled. Luke was definitely his Father's son.

"Ex squeezee me, but da Master Jedi says to bringen yousa dis mui mui berry good food."

"Thank you, Jar Jar," she said, taking the plate he handed her.

"Mesa berry scared. Isa little Ani go-en to be okeeday?"

"I'm not sure. He's a very resilient person," she told him, realizing that as an adult he'd survived much worse than having one arm chopped off, "I'm sure he'll pull through this.

"Isa hesa scare-ed like mesa?"

"I'd say that he's probably a little bit scared. I think that we all are. The important thing is not to let your fear control you. Fear is a natural response. It keeps us alive, sometimes. But panic, that's what can get you killed."

"Tank yu. My try-en remembersa that."

The boy turned over, restless in his sleep. Leia checked to make sure he wasn't too hot or too cold, but he seemed fine.

* * *

Yoda finished his meetings for the day, then went to see about Anakin. Mace had complained that there was something wrong with him. He sighed as he trudged down the hall. He disliked having to interrupt his schedule for emergencies. He hated to admit that he was getting old or set in his ways, but he was both. He thought about what Luke had told him. The last Jedi of the order, he was. Luke had received training until he himself had died. As long as he'd lived, it was hard to face the possibility that he had less than half a century before he would join the Force.

The door to the Healer's was open, and he entered and made his way to the back room. The healer explained what had been going on, and Yoda pondered for a moment what the significance was, but couldn't find anything in the Force to tell him.

"We have the new prosthetics for him, did you want us to go ahead with the replacement? He never gave us a definitive answer."

Yoda pondered her question. "Uses his armor as a crutch, he does. The last vestige of his imprisonment, it is. Better off, he will be without it."

"What do you want done with it?"

"I will take it. Hide it away I will. Little use there will be for it otherwise."


	24. Meetings

TriGemini: **Yes, Leia is admitting to herself that she actually has two parents, and even that at one time they loved one another. I've got direction with this, so it's going to all fit together pretty quickly, I think.**

Teresa:** I think Maul realizes that Anakin is a special case, but not necessarily how special. **

**I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story, and I hope you don't think I'm hanging you off too many cliffs with this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 24

Anakin opened his eyes. He had a blanket covering him, something he hadn't bothered with for a long time. It felt good. He felt uncomfortable, so he turned over. He realized then, that they'd finished his replacements. He sighed. He hadn't been feeling too well, so he hadn't bothered coming out of his trance when they'd started poking and prodding him again. The injury to his younger body, and the subsequent fight, had taken a lot out of him mentally. It had taken more out of his younger self, considering that the actual damage had been done to that body. He wasn't particularly surprised that Luke had told him that he'd woken up with Padmé there, but helping him into a healing trance should have put an end to any questions that Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan would have had for the boy.

_Especially Obi-Wan. _Anakin was in complete agreement with Yoda and Mace on that one._ The Padawan had enough troubles without having _that_ looming over him. Force, it's hard to think of Obi-Wan as a Padawan. _He rolled out of the bed, ensuring his balance with the Force. Then he realized that he didn't have to. It had been so long since he'd not had to use the Force for everyday tasks that it felt freeing. He didn't even think about the amount of energy that went into everyday tasks. It wasn't like he couldn't do that and everything else, too. He just couldn't do everything else quite as well. He flipped on the lights, and found that clothes had been laid out for him. He stood there, felling the traditional Jedi robes with his new hands, and remembered the last time that he'd put similar robes on.

He'd been 19 or 20 when he stopped wearing the looser robes of the order, opting for tighter fitting piloting outfits such as those he'd seen Master Tiin wear when he was flying. Since he was constantly hopping into _something_ and flying it, often against his Master's wishes, he'd taken to wearing fly gear nearly everywhere. It was a darker shade of red, which often suited his mood better anyway. Sighing, and putting away those thoughts, he got dressed.

He checked the chronometer. It was well before dawn, and his stomach had started a fierce rumbling. His Healer wasn't around anywhere. He poked his head out of the door to his room. No one seemed to be about. He put the hood of his cloak up over his bald head, and headed off to filch something from the kitchen, something he'd often done in his youth. Surely no one would miss him in that length of time.

* * *

Obi-Wan was sitting in his room. They were getting back today. _It is so strange, _he thought, _the way that Luke interacts with the rest of them. Especially Leia. He holds her at arm's length, but it's obvious that he cares for her. It's very different from the way that he treats Padmé and Anakin. It's funny, _he thought, _they've never met before but now it's almost like they are inseparable. I wish I could figure out how to tell Leia from Padmé. It's like they're twins or something…Luke and Qui-Gon don't seem to be having any trouble. I don't understand why not. Maybe Luke told him the secret of telling them apart. Whatever it is, Qui-Gon hasn't decided to share it with me. I get the sense that he fears it will cause me pain that he'd rather spare me from. Yet, if my suspicions are correct and Luke is from the future, would I not be better served by knowing then not knowing? On the other hand, Qui-Gon keeps reminding me that the future is always in motion and therefore cannot easily be predicted and anyone who thinks other wise is a fool, which fully places the entire Council in the category of fool. _He chuckled to himself at this thought; it was so like his Master to refer to the Council as foolish. _Where is the lesson here, what should I learn from this experience? Trust? I trust Qui-Gon with my life, but do I trust the others? I sense there is more to the boy; that I should be more to him, but I don't know why. Maybe I should check on him. _With that he got up and headed to where Ani was sleeping.

* * *

Yoda watched the security holos that the young healer brought him. "He left really early this morning, Master." She was wringing her hands, having left for a couple of hours while he was resting peacefully, to get some sleep of her own. She usually watched over the healing hall at night, but with Anakin as the only patient and not much of one at that… 

"Returned quickly, with food, he did. Filched it out of the kitchen, he probably did. Thirteen years he spent at this temple. Unsurprised I am that he can find his way around in the dark. Changed this temple has not in all the time that I have been here."

"Aren't you worried about it? I thought he was supposed to be dangerous."

"Amused, perhaps. Dangerous only for the knowledge he holds, he is. Fallen back into the ways of a Jedi he has. Obedient, he has been, far beyond what even his own expectations of being able to do so were. Such things as this, when to help him there was no one, I cannot fault him. Locked the door was not, and alarmed against intrusion it was not. Reasonable for him to believe that he was permitted to leave, it was. By no one he would have been seen. Broken he feels himself to be, and unwanted are other's eyes upon him."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Plenty to do, he will have. Told me he did of what occurred as Master Jinn and his companions left Tatooine. Caused his unconsciousness, it did. Treating a young boy with a grievous injury you will be soon, and Master Jinn, for a bit of Force Lightning that he was caught in. Arrive they should within the day."

"Force Lightning? That's just a legend!" the healer gasped.

"Real enough it is, I fear," Yoda said sadly. "Go I must, now."

"Yes, Master Yoda."

Yoda went off to make the arrangements for the incoming vessel. Coruscant Traffic Control was not at all happy, but they made a hole in the traffic for the ship carrying the "Badly Injured Jedi."

* * *

Obi-Wan found Luke with the boy, he was mediating again; did he ever do anything else? Obi-Wan moved over to the boy who started awake, impressive considering Obi-Wan had sensed a healing trace had been placed over him. 

"Jedi Kenobi, what time is it?" Ani asked, surprisingly alert.

"Its late afternoon, how are you feeling?" Obi-Wan asked him.

"My arm hurts, don't know why though, since it isn't there. It's weird," Ani said.

"I've heard that is common with amputations; phantom pain, it is called," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"Ampu-what?" Ani said, not having heard the word before.

"It's a fancy word for having an arm or leg removed," Obi-Wan explained.

"Oh…" Ani said.

"I was impressed with how you defended yourself out there, you have some powerful instincts," Obi-Wan said.

"I don' remember much beyond this, Master," Ani said, yawning, but, lifting his stumpy arm to show Obi-Wan what he meant.

"What did you just call me?" Obi-Wan said.

"Master…I dunno why though, it just feels right," Ani said.

"Curious, I wonder if this has anything to do with the secrets aboard this ship," Obi-Wan asked.

"I dunno. There is something going on, but no one's told me anything, but I'm just a kid," Ani said.

"Well, I guess I fall into the same category then, just a big kid," Obi-Wan said, grinning at the boy, who started chuckling.

"That's funny, a Jedi being treated as a kid," Ani said.

"You won't think it so funny when you are in my position, my young friend," Obi-Wan said.

"Do you think I'll be trained?" Ani asked, still fighting the sleep he apparently needed.

"After what happened on Tatooine I think Qui-Gon will insist on it, but you better get some rest," Obi-Wan said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Can you stay?" Ani asked.

"Of course I can," Obi-Wan said with a smile, causing Ani to smile back.

* * *

Palpatine awaited his apprentice's return. The holocron was now finished and safely hidden. Soon things would proceed, either with him or without him, it didn't matter now, the Sith would survive. He felt better than he had in the last week. He called up his office secretary, and asked if there was any pressing business, but there was nothing that couldn't wait for another day or so. 

So he waited, looking out the window of his upscale senatorial home. It was late afternoon before he felt what he'd been waiting for. First he felt his Apprentice's flight, low to the city, below proper traffic channels, and headed for the place Maul called home. He'd spirited away his most valuable artifacts, as well as his personal Holocron to his Apprentice's lair.

Then he felt the return of the Jedi, two powerful users of the Living Force. His eyes narrowed at that. That boy, Luke had grown in power since he'd left. There were three other signatures, less distinct, less powerful, less in tune with the Living Force. They'd picked up two Force users in their travels. He was sure that one was this _boy_, this _Son of the Suns_. The other one, he had no idea on. If he'd been at the Senate, there was an excellent view of the Temple from his office, but here, there was not so much height to the building, and it was further away as well. And headed for the Temple they were. They probably wanted to patch up their little poster child.

* * *

Mace was amazed at the story Anakin told. He didn't know such a thing was even possible, but considering the rarity of meeting oneself, he had little practical experience to draw on. The changes to what Anakin remembered troubled him, however. He had seemed concerned about it, but as with everything, the fact that he was even there surprised both of them sometimes. He fidgeted a little, even though it wasn't proper for a Jedi Master to fidget. Several Healers were out there with him, as well as Master Yoda. Qui-Gon and Anakin would go with the Healers, but he would need Luke and Leia to debrief them. Yoda would take the Queen and her handmaidens, and have a talk with them. That left Obi-Wan, who wasn't injured, wasn't in the loop and had nothing else to do. Mace felt sorry for the young man who he had a great deal of respect for. Just then, a gleaming silver ship came down out of the sky, and landed.

* * *

Leia's heart was breaking for young Ani. It was easier for her to think of him that way, as opposed to him being a young version of her father. She knew she needed to let go of the resentment, the anger, and especially the hatred for him. It was hard, though, trying to let go of something that she'd held all of her life. Luke came up behind her, resting his chin on the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around hers. "It'll be ok," he said, releasing the hug. 

"I'm not so sure about that. I mean he's still Darth Vader, isn't he?"

"I don't think of him that way, Leia. I think of him as a man, passionately in love with a woman that he would give up everything for. It's not his fault that that got twisted into the evil and pain that he lived through all of our lives."

"I don't know if I can do this."

"I'll be with you." He wrapped her tightly in his arms as she cried. "You don't have to do this today. It can wait a day or two, if need be."

The resolve that he'd come to rely on from her settled itself back into her, and she regained control after her moment of weakness. "No. I'd better get this over with before I lose my nerve."

"Good," He said, guiding her toward the door. "I knew you had it in you."

* * *

Maul arrived on Coruscant having tended to his own injuries, leaving only the replacement needing to be done. His Master hadn't met him, but he'd ridden in practically on the tail of the Queen's skiff. Surely he'd be meeting her and starting whatever he wanted started with her. He entered his home from the garage, and found several things that hadn't been there before he left. He saw a datapad out on the table, so he picked it up. It was the kind that required a biometric signature before it would unlock. He pressed his thumb to the pad, waiting for it to make its comparison, and it unlocked for him. There were instructions on some of the uses of the various devices that he now found in his possession, hiding places for others, and a general list of things that he needed to know if his master died. There was a list of the items that he would need to be able to construct his new Lightsaber, and where he could find said items, and the directions to the place where he could receive his new hand. He went there first. 

With his new mechanical hand attached he planned his revenge. He would make the Republic tremble in fear of what his followers would do, as soon as he had followers to have them do anything.

* * *

Qui-Gon paced the floor, as Yoda watched. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" 

"Told you this I have. Know I did not the extent of the problems you would face with him along. Best place for him, I felt, with you, where out of the range of Senator Palpatine he would be. Knowledge he had, dangerous it would be in the hands of the Sith."

"He is reckless, fickle, and downright dangerous."

"Like his Father he is, that is all. Also, another Jedi I could name with those traits."

"If you are telling me that this is somehow my fault for bringing that boy to the Temple, to be tested, I don't accept that."

"Stated my case well, you have. Matters not that you thought him the Chosen One?"

"I didn't say that…" Qui-Gon said, and the look in Yoda's eyes wasn't one that he thought he'd like.

"The elder Skywalker told me that you did. Told me also that gave up your Padawan's training did you, to take on his. Told me he did, that when relief the Queen of Naboo did not find in the Senate, return with her to Naboo did the three of you. There, the Sith that on Tatooine you had already fought, at his hands did you meet your end. Promise, did you make Obi-Wan, to train the boy, with your dying breath. Approve of this I never did. Enough have I told you now?"

Qui-Gon had gone a few shades paler as Yoda told him that he would have died if Luke and Anakin hadn't come to the past, "I think that I did not want to know."

"Hope have I, that in the death of Palpatine, a rejuvenation of the Jedi Order we can find. Hope I do that this Darth Maul is grievously injured enough to die, or as though an animal, he will come after you when you are prepared to deal with him. Return to Naboo you will, and if accompany you Anakin does, with Luke, stave off your death he might. The grief over your death, Obi-Wan never truly healed. Avoid that I wish, for his sake. A great Master he became, despite that, but never did he have the ability to show to his Padawan the love he held in his heart for both you and him. To Palpatine would Anakin run when the starkness of the Order was too much for such an emotional boy. Happy enough was Palpatine to be his confidant, for Sith Lord he was in secret. Too much, I feel is at stake for you not to go to Naboo. A greater disaster, looming there is, if changed this is. Understand it I do not. Like it I do not. The will of the Force it is, and change that, I cannot."

"Does that mean that you want me to train the boy?"

"It does not. The Knight's trials will Obi-Wan take, upon your return from Naboo. Anakin's Master will he be then. Help both of them you can, in that way."

"Why? Why not just let me train the boy?"

"Unpredictable are you. Stable is Obi-Wan. A good influence he would be on the boy. Control he can learn from Obi-Wan; reason he can learn from you."

"So I am to teach the boy as well? I thought you didn't like me."

"Nothing to do with it, like has. Understanding of the boy, you will have, his nature is much like yours; a confidant you can be in the place of the Sith Lord."

"Sith Lord. I would not have believed it if it wasn't you who was telling me. What are you going to do about it?"

"Kill this Master will we. Worry about the Apprentice when we can, must we. No choice in that is there. Saved, many lives will be by this action: Sifo-Dyas, Dooku, Anakin, and ultimately nearly every Jedi in the Temple."

"That I can well understand."

* * *

Luke spent several hours talking to Mace Windu. He'd questioned Leia as well, at the same time. There was little that either of them could tell him about much of anything that was really a revelation to him. After that, they were free. 

"Come on. We've got someone to go see," he said gently to Leia.

"Oh, right," She seemed distracted, almost fearful.

"I'm not going to make you go if you aren't ready."

She shook it off. "I'm ready. Delaying it won't help."

They walked down the hall to the Healer's, and went inside. Off to one side, there was the little boy that they had brought with them. "Luke, Leia!" He called, so they went over to see him. "Obi-Wan stayed with me. He said you had to talk to somebody, and then Qui-Gon left 'cause he had to talk to somebody else."

"Yell at someone, more like." Obi-Wan told them. "For some reason he was very upset with Master Yoda. I can't for the life of me figure out why."

Luke looked puzzled. He actually was genuinely puzzled. Not about what Qui-Gon was mad about, which was himself, but over the particulars of what he would be mad about at that moment. Maybe he'd saved up his anger until now, but that was quite unJedi-like. He shrugged. "I can't see any reason that he'd be mad." He turned to Ani, "how are you holding up?"

"I'll be ok. They promised that I'd get a really wizard new arm."

"Really?" Leia asked him. Luke looked up from the bed to see a cloaked Jedi in the doorway to the room where he'd last seen his father. The hood was drawn back just enough that he could make out the blue eyes that exactly matched his own. He frowned slightly, but talking with him could wait for a bit while they comforted Ani.

"So what is this wizard new arm going to do for you?" he asked, but watched as Obi-Wan glanced over, having followed the trail of his eyes. Anakin was gone, though.

Ani started detailing the various functions that his new arm, real and imagined, would be able to do, to which both twins took delight in hearing. It wasn't long, though, until the Healers wanted him.

"So," Obi-Wan started. "When do I get to meet Ben?"

A slight bit of confusion crossed Luke's face until he remembered that he'd talked to Obi-Wan about his older self. "Maybe tomorrow, I should ask first if he'll see anybody. He doesn't like to be around a lot of people."

"Was that his excuse for taking you to Dagobah?"

"No. It was where we needed to be."

Leia shifted uncomfortably while she listened to the truth-from-a-certain-point-of-view that he was telling Obi-Wan. All of the things he said were strictly true; none of them applied to the creature that she was about to meet.

Qui-Gon chose that moment to come back into the Healer's. He didn't look angry, worried, maybe, but not angry. "Obi-Wan, we need to go see about getting our guests arranged," he said. "I'm sure that Luke would like somewhere more comfortable to sleep than our sofa."

Obi-Wan sighed. He was never going to get anywhere with his investigation of the reality of what was going on if he kept getting interrupted.

After the two of them had left, Luke took Leia's hand. "Let's go."

She gripped his hand tighter, took a deep breath, and stood up, following Luke the ten or so meters to the door across the room. "Here?" She whispered, "he's been this close this whole time?"

"Yes," Luke said. "Why do you think Obi-Wan was asking weird questions? He saw me look over here."

"I can't, I can't." she said, muffled into his tunic.

"I'm sure that will be OK. You can wait for Ani so that he's not alone when he gets back."

The forceful reminder that somewhere inside her head, she'd determined that their father hadn't always been horribly evil finally sank in to the bottom of her core. Once upon a time he'd loved her. "I hate you," she said, beating ineffectively on her brother's chest.

Luke laughed, "No, you just can't ever let yourself have an out," he said as he opened the door.

* * *

Padmé went with her handmaidens. She'd taken the time to change into the stately robes of the Queen, and Sabé had once again taken on the dress of a handmaiden. They followed Yoda to a small room. "Outside you will wait." He'd told the handmaidens. They had talked for several hours; she admitted many things that she wouldn't have to any lesser being than the Grand Master of the Jedi Temple. She loved Anakin, already she could feel it. She loved her children. She wanted everything to be real, except Palpatine. That horrified her. Guilt washed over her as she thought that her people had been so duped. "Fortunate it is that know this now we do. Many deaths we will be able to prevent by this knowledge." He talked to her, strategized with her, and made her feel like part of a solution. He asked if he could shield her mind from the influence of the Sith Lord. She'd gladly let him do so. Certain knowledge was hidden under the shield, and trivial things were let to pass. He would still be able to read her casual thoughts, if he'd been able to do so before, but probing more deeply would alert both herself and Master Yoda. Yoda promised her the full backing of the Jedi, if she needed their aide. 

She got back onto her ship, with only her handmaidens, but not her daughter, Jar Jar and Ric. Ric and Jar Jar had stayed with the ship. They flew over to the Senatorial Landings, where Senator Palpatine and Chancellor Valorum were waiting for her.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty. We both were very distressed to hear of the injuries your party suffered," Palpatine said, faking a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Senator Palpatine, and for yours Chancellor Valorum. Unfortunately we do not have time to wallow in our shared pain and concern. Action must be taken to end the occupation of my world. What strategy have you come up with to end this travesty as quickly as possible," Padmé said.

"With the communications breakdown, we've become very concerned about the state of our people. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation. May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum." Palpatine continued as if she had said nothing. She stopped short.

"Senator, I asked you a question, what have you been doing to end this invasion?" Padmé demanded, growing rather upset with the Senator's evasions.

"Perhaps, your highness, it would be best if we spoke in my office," Palpatine said.


	25. The Sith are a myth!

**AN:I have a nifty super extra long chapter for you. Don't go starting to expect this, though. It's a royal pain to get a file this big onto the site. This chapter comprises 18 pages, and it didn't really take that long. Gee, maybe I'm getting better. **

twisterblake: **Thanks...for the nice but somewhat incoherant review. I don't mind too much as I typically am incoherant most of the time anyway. **

Jedi Knight 13**: I suppose that you'll like this chapter then; fairly quick update(I consider anything more than 1 pg/day quick), more** **Padmé assertiveness, Qui-Gon and Ani. **

fictionfrek101: **As far as I've been able to determine Ani will not have the oppertunity to meet Anakin. Not that that means anything. **

TriGemini: **Um, Yeah. What she said.**

murdrax:** I actually think the whole Naboo thing is going to get footnoted. I'm not sure. I think the big confrontation on Coruscant will about be the end of this little tale. I may write something about it just for you, though. **

Teresa:** Glad you are enjoying it. An explaination as to the nature of future relationships is given to Qui-Gon by Yoda in this chapter.**

Lunatic Pandora1: **I don't think of it as sneaky, reserved, maybe or wary, afraid to intrude, and not wanting to have a conversation with himself. I don't see it as being out of character. **

carmsfic: **I'm glad that you like it. Here is the reasonably soon update, and I hope that you continue to enjoy. **

Jean: **Obi-Wan becomes somewhat more enlightened in this chapter, never fear. **

Wawoot: **Anakin has never been particularly fearful of personal danger or damage. Palpatine, is the essence of a caring Sith Master. He cares whether a particular injury will damage his Apprentice's ability to fight. He does not care about his Apprentice's physical health, however. **

Clara Motion Wright: **I added the holocron because it does add the uncertainty. I've got to have plot drivers for the next story. :)**

* * *

Chapter 25

"Perhaps, your highness, it would be best if we spoke in my office," Palpatine said.

"I concur. We will come in a moment," The queen told Palpatine. She turned to the captain of her guard. "Sabé will come with me, and you. See that everyone else is returned to our rooms."

"Yes, Your Highness," the man said, returning to the ship.

While they waited for him, the Chancellor came up to the Queen. "Welcome, Your Highness. It is an honor to finally meet you in person. I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the current situation. I've called for a special session of the Senate to hear your position."

"Thank you, Chancellor," she said, then the Captain came back out. All of the handmaidens except one returned to the ship, and it took off.

"We are prepared," she told Palpatine. They got into an airtaxi that he had waiting, which took them the short distance to the Senate Building, which housed the offices of the senators as well as the Rotunda.

"There is a question of procedure, but I feel confident we can overcome it. The Chancellor wished to convey to you that he'd called a special session of the Senate, but you were in such a hurry…"

"I am sure that you will do everything within your power to overcome the obstacles to the Sovereignty of Naboo." Amidala said evenly, as they arrived at the Senate.

Palpatine led them into his office, and he paced before the three of them, the picture of concern. "I understand your wish to bring this before the Senate, and at one time that would have been the most proper and right thing to do. It is not as easy to work within the Senate's rules and bylaws anymore. This body has become a maze of bureaucracy, and the rule of the Republic has suffered because of this problem. You see, the Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates who are only looking out for themselves and their home systems. There is no interest in the common good...no civility, only politics...it's disgusting. I must be frank, Your Majesty, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion."

"Chancellor Valorum seems to think there is hope. He has been championing our cause for weeks."

"If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power...he is mired down by baseless accusations of corruption. A manufactured scandal surrounds him. The bureaucrats are in charge now."

"What options do we have?"

"Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger Supreme Chancellor. One who will take control of the bureaucrats, enforce the laws, and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum."

"He has been our strongest supporter. Is there any other way?"

"Our only other choice would to be to submit a plea to the Courts..."

"What of the question of procedure? How do we overcome this obsitcale and move into a position of advantage?" The Queen asked.

"We'll have to see, your Majesty. I however have little hope," Palpatine said.

"You seem to have lost your confidence, Senator," the Queen said.

"No, but we must be realistic in what we can accomplish. Naboo isn't a major system. Then other senators are questioning why the Senate is even wasting time on our plight," Palpatine said.

"When We present our case to the Senate, what will the Trade Federation attempt?" the Queen asked.

"They've occupied our planet, your Majesty, I don't know what more they can do to us," Palpatine said.

"I meant in the Senate, Senator. Once this is resolved I may have to rethink the intelligence of our representation here and make moves to alter it," The Queen said, tired of the slime's double talk. Why, why hadn't she seen this before? All of the problems they were having were his fault, and now she knew it.

"Well, in their position I would move for a commission to ascertain the validity of your claims, which would take, quite frankly, years," Palpatine said, obviously shaken by the strength she was showing.

"So we need witnesses, preferably a neutral third party whose integrity is beyond question," the Queen said.

"That would shut down that motion, true, but where would you find such witnesses? Any in your entourage would be suspect," Palpatine said.

The Queen smiled slightly, "The Jedi who brought me here. They are our witnesses."

Palpatine nearly choked on the water he had just sipped, "Your Majesty, that…that…that is brilliant!"

"Then we have a plan. I will see you in session tomorrow, Senator,"

* * *

"It feels weird," Ani complained to Qui-Gon, as he examined his new arm. It was gold in color, not yet covered in any way, "I always thought Threepio would look good gold." 

"I'm sure he would, Ani. And stop scratching, you've not fully healed where they attached your new arm," Qui-Gon admonished.

"I'm thirsty," Ani said; he'd been drinking water like crazy since he'd woken up. Qui-Gon thought that he was reveling in the lack of restrictions he had on the liquid since leaving Tatooine. Qui-Gon handed him a cup of water when the doors parted and admitted Master Yoda.

"Come to see our new guest, I have," Yoda said, "If up to visitors he is?"

"Of course, Master Yoda. Ani, this is Master Yoda, most senior Jedi in the Galaxy. Master Yoda, Anakin Skywalker, of Tatooine," Qui-Gon said, making introductions.

"Pleased to meet you I am, young Skywalker. Much have I heard about you," Master Yoda said to the boy.

"Pleased to meet you, too. Are you the one who will decide if I am to be trained as a Jedi?" Ani asked.

"Carry weight with the council, my voice does," Yoda answered.

"He's being modest, Ani. The council usually does what Master Yoda recommends and the few times they haven't they've had cause to regret it. One does not ignore the advice of one who is as old as Yoda is and not regret it," Qui-Gon said.

"Really? How old is he?" Ani asked Qui-Gon.

"Invisible have I become?" Yoda said in mock horror, causing Ani to laugh.

"No, I can see you just fine," Ani said.

"Then direct your question to me, you should. Polite it is," Yoda chided Ani gently.

"I'm sorry, Master Yoda. I didn't mean to be rude. How old are you?" Ani asked, sounding sheepish.

"Accepted, your apology is, and the answer to your question is older than dirt," Yoda replied with a mischievous grin.

"That's impossible!" Ani said laughing at the Jedi Master's answer.

"You'd better believe it Ani, that's the answer he always gives," Qui-Gon said with a smile on his face.

"Since a guest you are, tell you I will, but if accepted for Training you are, you must promise to keep it secret," Yoda said.

"I promise, I promise!" Ani said, bouncing in the bed.

"A solemn vow you are making, young Skywalker," Yoda said seriously, but with a wink.

"I understand, Master Yoda," Ani said.

"I have seen 864 years as of my birth's last anniversary," Yoda said.

"Wow! You are older than dirt!" Ani said.

"Yes, now you see the truth in my first answer," Yoda said, chuckling.

"Yes, Master Yoda," Ani replied.

"Now, Master Qui-Gon, I believe you wished to speak to me," Yoda said addressing the other human in the room.

"Yes, Master, I did. If you'll excuse us Ani," Qui-Gon said.

"Ok, will you be back soon?" Ani asked.

"As soon as possible, Obi-Wan said he would be by later," Qui-Gon said.

"Ok, has Padmé been by?" Ani asked hopefully.

"Not since she left the temple with the Queen. You must understand she has her duty to perform," Qui-Gon said.

"I know, I was just hoping she'd have time," Ani said, obviously disappointed.

"If compose a message for her you do, see to it I will that she receives it," Yoda said.

"You will! Thank you Master Yoda! I'll get started right away," Ani said.

"Then leave you to your task we will. Return later for your message I will." Yoda said. Then the two Jedi left Ani to his writing.

* * *

Leia walked through the door. It was quiet, too quiet. There was a bed, some chairs, and a small table, which still held the remnants of a meal. There was someone, dressed in the robes of a Jedi, standing in front of her. She looked apprehensively at Luke. "I'm not leaving you," he reassured her. 

"Is…" She started to ask him, but couldn't finish. The thought of Vader unmasked was nearly too much for her.

"It's Ok," Luke said. "He's not going to hurt you," he said as she buried her face into his tunic once again. He was her lifeline here, her only refuge.

"I love you, Leia; I don't want to hurt you. Go if you need to," Anakin said to her, gently rubbing her back. Something inside her broke, like an egg cracking open to reveal what was inside. She remembered. She remembered his voice, the way that she remembered her mother's voice, her face. She remembered being curled up, safe and warm, and hearing his voice. 'I love you, baby girl.'

She looked at him then, the father that she barely knew, and had never seen. The blue eyes set into the scarred face were Luke's, but his face was his own, like Luke's but harder, with sharper lines. She wouldn't have thought that; he was all angles. His face as a child was so cherubic. "Princess," he said formally, "can you forgive me for the things that I've done to you?"

"I don't know, after Alderaan and what you did to Han. And the Massacre of Chulum?" Leia said, defensively throwing up some her more personal atrocities committed by the former Dark Lord.

Anakin looked down at her, reminding him of the things he had been involved in, he sighed and said, "I wouldn't have destroyed Alderaan, it was a senseless waste of life, and it served no real purpose; _if_ I had been in command, which I was not. That was all Tarkin, which even you knew then, and I couldn't do anything but follow his orders because the Emperor had given him full authority in the use of the Death Star. It comes back to the same thing I was feeling in Palpatine's office the day the Empire was born, I guess."

"So you aren't responsible? Is that what you're saying?" Leia said hotly.

"Leia…" Luke cautioned.

"No, Luke, it's a fair question, and she deserves an answer to it, both of you do," Anakin said.

"This is going to be good," Leia said, rolling her eyes, causing Anakin to chuckle a little bit. "Great, now he's laughing, why am I even here?" She started to move away from Anakin, back toward Luke, and the door.

"Wait, Leia. I was just struck at how much like me you are," Anakin tried to explain. Leia, for her part just looked insulted.

"I see some of myself in you. The way I was at your age; all brash truth, anger, and certainty that I was right. You've got the same determination I always had. I never took no for an answer and I had a VERY strong sense of right and wrong. One that was twisted and deformed by Palpatine," Anakin said.

"Really?" Leia looked incredulous.

"You need to hear the whole story," he said waving his hand as though erasing the previous conversation to start anew, "so let me start with the start of the Clone Wars. That was when I started my fall into the pits of darkness…" Anakin started, outlining in some detail the Clone Wars, with emphasis on his personal thoughts and feelings at those times. He eventually got up to the end of the Republic. "…So I arrived at his office and Master Windu was there approaching the apparently weakened and beaten Chancellor. Five Jedi had gone to arrest the Chancellor, but only one was alive by that point, I should have realized then that Master Windu was right. Palpatine was lying so totally, and my need for what he had told me he knew was so great, that I didn't want him killed. I wanted the power to save Padmé from death, so that I wouldn't have to live without her, so I told Master Windu that he should have a fair trial. The guilt of having killed Dooku twisting in my gut, but I'd forgotten that I'd done so at the Chancellor's insistence. Master Windu moved to strike him anyway and Palpatine struck out with Force Lightning, Windu blocking it, both of them calling each other a traitor. I was hopelessly confused. I didn't know who to believe or what to believe. All that had happened before ran through my mind, I felt the Jedi had lied to me, I knew Palpatine had lied to me, but I rationalized that his lies were ones of self preservation, and while they were, his lies were far more sinister than I ever thought at that time.

"Palpatine then feigned weakness and let down his attack which had been bounding back on him, deforming him. Windu was about to strike him down and I just acted. I severed Master Windu's hand and his lightsaber flew out the window. Then Palpatine struck, dropping his ruse and killed Master Windu, sending his body crashing down many stories below us. At that point, I knew I had made the worst mistake of my life, but I felt trapped by that choice. I felt I had taken an irrevocable step, and all of my choices since were based on that flawed line of thinking, until Luke showed me how wrong it was," Anakin finished.

"I think understand, but I just don't know if this will make sense later. This is a lot to take in. What happened after you swore loyalty to the slime?" Leia asked.

Luke withdrew, hopping onto the bed, letting her have space so that she could come to grips with the new reality that she'd been presented with, and waited for Anakin to continue with the tale.

"Slime, yeah, that's a good description for Sidious," Anakin said, "Anyway, Palpatine ordered me to destroy the Jedi, including the Younglings." Leia gasped at this and Luke winced. "I still remember every face, the shock, the hurt, the confusion as I struck them down. Then the Younglings, there was one who spoke to me, asked." At this point tears started falling down his cheek, "He asked me what they should do, that there was too many of them. The shock on his face when I ignited my lightsaber too much for me, I killed him first, then the others started crying, I still hear their screams in my sleep. I didn't want to do it, but I felt I had no choice," his voice cracked. It was then that Leia began to weep for the broken man, understanding in some small part the pain that he'd daily endured since that terrible choice. She found herself approaching him, and she really started to wonder how he'd been so scary not so very long ago. She'd never thought Darth Vader as having nightmares of those he had killed. He laughed, just a small chuckle through the pain. "It's ok; I've had nightmares almost all of my life." She looked at him quizzically. "You were projecting your thoughts about me. I usually don't let my guard down enough for untrained thoughts to get thorough, but you are strong enough with the Force, besides being as close as you are to me."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"You are physically close to me, which makes the connection stronger, you were thinking about me," he paused, gently, with trembling fingers brushed a bit of hair out of her face, and it seemed to her an almost unconscious gesture borne of many small moments with her mother, "and your blood relation to me, Daughter mine, makes it actually rather hard to block you out." Anakin said. "I'll have to work on that. I never had that problem with your mother. I had to work really hard if I wanted her to hear me."

"I remember her," she said to Anakin.

"Remember who?" he said guardedly.

"Mother. I remember her. She touched my cheek. I remember. She said my name. She was so sad. I've never understood why."

"Your mother died before you were more that a few days old. I went to her grave, just to make sure that it actually was her. The State Funeral was only 5 days after your birth." He thought for a moment, "No, four."

"I remember something else, too, now. I remember the sound of your voice," she stared into nothingness, lost in the memory that was all too real to her at that moment. "Hearing your voice made me remember."

"What is it that I am supposed to have said to you?"

"I love you, baby girl."

His sharp intake of breath confirmed the truth. In some way, he'd actually said that to her. "That was a week before you were born. How can you remember?"

"I don't know how. I just know that it is. Tell me about that day, please."

"As you command, my lady."

"I wondered where Luke got such irritating charm from." He smiled at her in acknowledgement.

"Padmé and I were talking. It was late. I spent the night in her apartment most of the time when I was on Coruscant, which wasn't often with the war. She was convinced that she was having a boy. I told her that it was a girl."

"You didn't know?"

"She'd wanted it to be a surprise. Neither of us cared, really, but we'd chosen our corners, and we would fight over it. I usually would let her win. That night, I felt more strongly than ever that you would be a girl. After a long fight, much interrupted with fits of giggling, and a fair amount of kissing, I pulled her down onto the bed, and I started talking to her stomach. I said several things before she made me stop. That was one of them."

"I don't understand. How could you go from loving father to monster in a week?"

Anakin grimaced. "I've often wondered that myself. Palpatine was the absolute master of manipulation. I don't know if I can believe half the things that I know to be true, because he at some point had a hand in some part of it."

"I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to forgive you, but I think that I can do some of the things that Master Qui-Gon told me that I had to do."

"What were those things?"

"Let go of my hatred of you, and my anger, fear."

"'Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side of the Force are they.'" Luke said.

"Poking fun at your old Master?" Anakin asked him.

"I would never." Luke told him with faked astonishment.

"Humph. 'Fear is the path to the dark side... fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to suffering,'" He shook his head sadly. "I should have never forgotten."

"So this is all real?" Leia asked them.

"It is all too real, and all too easy to fall into, Princess," Anakin told her.

"I have much to think about," she said, having taken all that she could of this meeting with her father. "I'm going to go see Padmé."

"You are welcome to see me anytime you wish." Anakin told her, opening a door that she could choose to ignore for as long as she needed to be able to come to terms with him.

She nodded, acknowledging that she might do that. The problem that she was having was that there was a part of her that still wanted to hate him for the bad things that he'd done, but another part that really and truly knew that he was a part of her, and wanted him to be a part of her life. He had a sense of humor that she related to, and there was, she knew somehow, this incredible depth of caring and absolute loyalty inside him. She didn't quite understand it, but it was almost comforting.

* * *

"Confusion I sense in you, since our meeting this morning." Yoda told Qui-Gon. 

"I'm not sure what to do about this whole situation." Qui-Gon said, waiving his arms helplessly.

"Discussed much of this, the council has. Long have the debates of the validity of the evidence presented by the Elder Anakin been. The training of the boy, also discussed has it been. Decided the Council has that trained he will be. The Chosen One he is, but said so it will not be outside the Council Chambers. Prevent him from getting a big head, we will."

Qui-Gon chuckled, "And those who have traveled from the future? What will you do with them?"

"A Jedi already, Luke is. He knows little, but remedied that can be. Leia, with her mother I believe she will wish to be, but a place here she has if she wishes it. Anakin, what to do with him, I know not. The Council has not determined his fate. Take him with you for a time you could, if both of you wished. A kindred restless spirit he is."

"Since Obi-Wan would be stuck here at the temple a good deal of the time, at least initially, I might take you up on that. Have you considered that whatever mechanism that brought them here, might send them back once whatever they are supposed to do is done?"

"Considered that we have. Happens, we hope it does. Less complicated would it be then. If it does not, made arrangements for them we have."

"That is good, Master Yoda. What about this situation on Naboo?"

"Discussed the repercussions of the different strategies that we could employ we have. With the Queen you and your apprentice will go tomorrow. Protect her you will from the Sith. Support her position you can, if need be."

"I thought that the Jedi stayed out of politics for a reason."

"The Sith do not abide by our rules. Alone, the Queen will fall, and with her, the Republic. Stand with her, make her position strong enough for action, you can."

* * *

Padmé stood and turned to Panaka. "We are leaving," she said to him, then turned back to the snake Palpatine. "It is clear to me that you enjoy the very political bureaucracy that you have held up to ridicule. If you cannot be effective in doing that which needs done for the sake of the people that you are here to represent, then perhaps it is time for Naboo to find a new Senator," she said coldly to him. The stunned look gratified her, and she walked out of the meeting with stately calm. Panaka had summoned Ric and their ship, and thankfully he'd arrived by the time that they got to the air platform. She stepped gratefully onto the ship, and into her chambers. "Sabé," she said quietly. 

"Your Highness," she responded formally. They never knew for sure when they might be observed.

"You will do your duty, when we return?" it was a half-question, prompted by her sudden fatigue at having dealt with Palpatine.

"Yes, Your Highness," she replied, with a twinkle in her eye. Sabé must think I'm going to see Ani. That wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Thank you, Sabé," she replied. She did need some freedom to think about what had just occurred, and a talk with Ani would do the trick of lightening her mood. They arrived at the Temple, and were escorted to rooms that had been assigned to them. The Jedi apparently had a whole floor dedicated to guest quarters for those who were visiting the temple for some reason or another. They went into the rooms, and Padmé changed out of her formal attire and into her handmaiden outfit. She finished the transformation, then helped Sabé with some of the finer details of her outfit, did a final double check in the mirror to make sure that she'd gotten all of her makeup off, and went out into the common area.

"Padmé, how did it go?" Leia asked, concerned because of the resounding fatigue that she felt coming off of her mother.

"I am disappointed. I felt like Palpatine, while looking helpful on the surface was behind the scenes of the bureaucracy that he was holding up as the thing that was blocking my ability to free my people. I don't know what I should do. He's been Senator of Naboo for longer than I've been alive, I think. He holds a lot of sway. I think that while it might help our position just to get rid of him, the person taking over would be ill equipped to understand the eccentricities of the Senates rules." R2 came over to beep sympathetically at her. "I doubt you can be any help, little friend. I wouldn't want you to fry your circuits on the doubletalk that politicians put out."

"I know the Senate, at least the vestiges of the Senate. It wouldn't take as long for me to pick up on the complexities as it would for someone who'd only been involved in, say, planetary politics."

"I will consider that, but proving your validity as a citizen of Naboo might be a problem. I can, of course vouch for you, but it would still prove difficult. Now that I'm thinking along those lines, though, there is someone I would consider…" she trailed off, lost in thought and memory for a moment. "But that is a discussion for another time," she stated firmly.

"I'm sorry that it's come to this. We will free Naboo from this stranglehold, by whatever means are necessary. I'm certain that we can find a way," Leia reassured her.

"Certainly," she agreed, feeling a bit better about the whole situation. "Maybe we could go check on Ani today?"

"I'm sure that would be fine. He's been anxious to see you."

Jar Jar walked in from another room. "Can Mesa goen see Little Ani, too?"

They laughed at the guileless Gungan, and eventually, after containing their laughter, one of them agreed that it would be better if maybe Ani came to see him, but probably not that day, as he was still recovering from his battle with the Sith.

* * *

Luke talked with his father, getting to know more about him. He was able to more readily accept Anakin than Leia was, although he remembered how strongly he'd objected to the very thought after he'd found out. Having the chance to get to know Padmé was helping Leia, but it was going to be a hard slow process. He was amazed by her sometimes. The oddest things came out of her mind. 

The door slid open to admit Master Yoda. "Go about the Temple you may, today. Cabin fever you will get, if soon you do not. Ill you are not, and back the Healers want their room." _Wow. Yoda really isn't much different than he was when I met him. I thought that he'd lost most of his faculties when he spent 20 years on Dagobah, but I guess that it really was just the way he is with people._

Anakin bowed to him. "Thank you, Master, I will vacate the premises immediately."

"See that you do, I will. Arrangements for you, Master Qui-Gon has made. Show them to you he will, when you are ready."

"I don't think that will be necessary. I remember how to get around." _Does Father want to avoid Master Qui-Gon, or something? Maybe it's everyone he wants to be away from_.

Yoda chuckled. "Ah, so I have seen," he gave them their room assignments.

"What does that mean?" Anakin said indignantly, but not really expecting an answer. Yoda rarely explained himself.

"My own council, I will keep on what it means."

"Stubborn old man," came the reply before he could bite his tongue.

"When as old as I am, you are, stubborn you will be," he poked Anakin with his gimer stick, but it was teasing, he wasn't upset with Anakin, at least not yet.

"I hope to get to be as old as you are. That would be an accomplishment."

"Go see the room of a thousand fountains you should. Good for you it would be."_ Room of a thousand fountains? _

"I can do that, Master Yoda. Do I have anything I need to be doing at any particular time?"

"Your time is your own until the meeting with Palpatine."

"Thank you." Anakin said, and Yoda left. "Come on, I'll show you where the Room of a Thousand Fountains is."

"Does it really have a thousand fountains?"

"About that. I never bothered counting." He drew his hood, and they exited the room, and went through the main part of the healing wing, although the opposite direction of where Ani was. They went down onto the lowest level of the Temple, where artificial light had brought out plants in nearly jungle proportions. The ceiling was 20 or so meters off the ground, allowing for the growth of some trees. There were indeed a great number of fountains, and they wandered through the gardens, talking for a while.

* * *

Maul paced as he waited on his Master. The surgeon droid had followed its instructions perfectly. The next time he fought the Jedi, they would be in for a surprise. He sensed his Master was disturbed about something as he came to their sanctuary. When Palpatine appeared, Maul knelt before him. 

"Rise, my apprentice," Palpatine said, "Things are not going well, I was unable to persuade the Queen to call for a vote of no confidence in that idiot Valorum, so I will have to move the scandal forward; maybe a compromising holo of him and the Queen?" Palpatine chuckled at the thought, the masses spent way too much time obsessed with sexual propriety, or rather the absence of such. Such a holo would solve both of his problems, but first he would try once more to get her to cooperate, during the heat of the Senate debate would be ideal. Palpatine didn't want to burn the Queen just yet, she would have her uses in the future if things were to get back on track. This thought brought him to the business at hand.

"Maul, the holocron I have created for you is now complete, but hidden. In it you will find several ideas I have had. None are complete, yet I think there are engineers in the Galaxy that might be persuaded to work on plans for them, and indeed build them," Palpatine said.

"Excellent Master, I will be sure to put them to good use, should you meet an untimely end," Maul answered.

"I'm sure you will," Palpatine said, enjoying the frustration coming off of Maul in waves. Palpatine wasn't about to reveal the location of the holocron to his apprentice until he was positive his time was at an end. Maul would try to kill him right here and now if he knew. It was the nature of the Sith, yet that same frustration would make his apprentice even more powerful than he already was.

"What will be our next move, Master?" Maul asked.

"I still wish Qui-Gon Jinn dead; you have failed me in that task, do NOT fail me again," Palpatine said.

"I will not, Master. I look forward to the challenge of killing him under the collective noses of the Jedi," Maul said, a feral grin on his face.

"Just see that he dies before the Senate meeting tomorrow, also his Padawan and the new Jedi if it can be arranged," Palpatine said, sensing that all three of them represented the most clear and present danger to his plans.

"I relish the difficult, Master," Maul said.

"Good, put your new arm to good use, my apprentice," Palpatine said.

"Yes, my Master," Maul said and moved to leave.

"And Maul, don't forget my other instruction to you," Palpatine said, reminding his apprentice not to risk himself too much.

* * *

Anakin stared at the fountain. Luke had left him, wanting to check on his sister, and the progress of the Queen's meeting with that slime, the Senator of Naboo. His hood was up, because he didn't want anyone to see his face. This had always been his favorite fountain. He'd enjoyed it as a young boy, meditated by it as a Padawan, but never really seen the beauty of it until it was gone, destroyed with everything else in the temple. He sensed a familiar presence coming up behind him. He didn't say anything to Obi-Wan. He was patient enough to let the Padawan ask his own questions. 

"Hello," Obi-Wan started.

"Good afternoon Padawan Kenobi. I was wondering how long it would take you to track me down," he said, still looking at the calming water, his new arms resting on the retaining wall.

"So you are Luke's Master?"

He vacillated about what to tell his brother-in-arms, "I have taught Luke, yes."

"Ben was what he said your name was," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"I doubt he said exactly that, but it will suffice. I have had many names in my life."

"He said that you spent five years on Dagobah."

"Was it that long?"

"It was what he said."

"On and off, I suppose it would have been about that."

"He has strange ways with the Lightsaber. I sparred with him several times, and he seemed to gain in his knowledge exponentially with each time I sparred with him."

"He is adaptive. He's had little chance to take up a Lightsaber in practice. It takes him very little time to understand a move," Anakin said with a great deal of pride in his voice. "I daresay he's better than I am."

"He'd be a good deal better company if he didn't spend all of his time meditating."

Anakin chuckled, "That is my fault. I like to talk to him."

"So he's not just meditating?"

"No, I'm sure. You're older than he is. How much time do _you_ spend in meditation, Padawan?"

"Not that much. Luke and Leia apparently both are having visions, similar ones."

"Really?"

"Something about the future, darkness, and me being a General."

Anakin sighed, "I have serious doubts as to the validity of that particular future now."

"What about the boy, Anakin?"

Anakin almost reacted to his name, but remembered that there was another Anakin here in the Temple now. "He is important. I'm not sure how to convey to you exactly how important. The future is shifting faster than I can keep up with."

"Master Qui-Gon says that the future is always in motion."

He waived his hand dismissively, "I know this. I only see certain things spiraling out of control right now. Some of those things may be for the best, I cannot tell."

"Master Ben,"

"I am not a Master," Anakin said, with no trace of emotion.

"I am sorry," he said contritely, "I was wondering, because it seems the only thing that makes any sense at all," he hesitated, not sure if he really wanted to broach this subject.

"Out with it, Padawan," he sighed, dreading the question that was coming.

"Is Luke from the future?"

"You are more perceptive than they give you credit for."

"So, what does that mean?"

"I don't know. That boy, Anakin, in the time that Luke came from, did not fight with the Sith on Tatooine."

"What does that mean for him?"

"I cannot answer that, Obi-Wan. The future is always in motion, and only you and he can write that story."

"Why me?"

"Your fate is intertwined very tightly with his."

"Is that why he called me Master yesterday?"

"It could be." He didn't want to go further with that line of conversation, "I cannot say anymore."

"Why not?" the frustration in his voice was clear. "I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm not worthy of knowing what's really going on."

"I don't want to talk about this particular subject. It is painful for me."

"What will you talk about?"

"The future, if it has little to do with the boy, or anything else that you wish to discuss."

"Why is Leia having visions, ones of the same future as Luke is from? She's not a Jedi, but she's strong with the Force, almost as strong as he is."

"She is from the future as well."

"And you?"

"Yes."

"How far into the future?"

"Thirty-six years."

"Do I know you, in this future?"

"Yes,"

"Will I become a good Master?" Obi-Wan asked hopefully.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin chided him, "pride doesn't become you. But yes, a good Master you will be. You might even impress a few of the Masters on the Council."

"I only ask…"

"…because you are extremely unconfident in your abilities."

"I suppose so," Obi-Wan was quiet for a few moments. "Is the war going to happen, now that these changes have started?"

"Ask Leia that," he said, dismissively pushing the question off onto his daughter's capable shoulders. "Politics was never something that I ever understood. Some of the key events that led up to the war are in the process of being stopped. I don't know if it will be enough, it's gone so far already, but maybe…" he trailed off, thinking about his upcoming confrontation with Palpatine.

"What kind of events?"

"This invasion of Naboo was simply a ploy for a gain in power by the Sith."

"The Sith are a myth!" Obi-Wan exclaimed in protest with what he'd been taught for all his life.

"Was that thing in the desert that took off the arm of a nine-year-old boy a myth?"

"No, anything but," he replied soberly.

"I rest my case."

"He was a Sith? You are certain?"

"He is the first Apprentice of the current Sith Lord. If you care, his name is Darth Maul."

"Do you know who the current Sith Lord is?"

"I do."

"Can you tell me, or is this something else no one wants me to know?" Obi-Wan said, still bristled slightly because of his being left out of everything.

"I am trying to decide if it will matter if I tell you. You will know in two days anyway. He will be dead by then."

"How do you know that?"

"I plan on killing him."

"Does the Council know?"

"I doubt it. Master Yoda knows, and Master Windu."

"And they are going to let you kill someone, based on what evidence?"

"The fact that he is a Sith Lord. I'm not just willy-nilly going to go kill someone. Evidence will be accumulated properly before I will be allowed to dispatch him. He's all in a tizzy anyway, because of several things which I won't go into. Something will slip, and then he will die."

"Why do you want him dead so badly?"

"He's caused the deaths of every person that I ever cared anything for. Only Luke and Leia remain, and he would have killed them as well, if he'd known who they were."

"So is it revenge?"

"No. I am here to prevent the deaths of millions upon millions of people. The fact that I care for some of them is really irrelevant. I am here to save Anakin." He said in sudden realization, "He bore unspeakable torture at the hands of the Sith for over twenty years." He felt Obi-Wan's shock and outrage. "Control your feelings, Padawan Kenobi, or this conversation will be over."

He felt Obi-Wan release his distress into the Force, "I can hardly believe it."

"As I have said, it won't be an issue now. I believe that the Force brought me here to correct certain mistakes that were made. I don't know what other reason there would be for me to even be alive at this point."

"What are you saying?"

"I would be dead if I hadn't come back in time. It was really all sorts of shocking for me to wake up alive." He sensed another presence entering the area, Qui-Gon, "Your Master is coming," he said, then slipped quickly away.

* * *

**AN: The Ani/Anakin thing...Nine-year-old Ani is in the scene with Qui-Gon and Yoda.**

**Anakin is in scenes with Leia, Luke and Yoda, and Obi-wan.**


	26. Preparing for Battle

TriGemini:** Yes, poor Palpatine is just not having a good week. He's having to go from Plan 'A' (What we see in the movies) to about plan 'D' at this point. I don't think he's made plan 'E' yet, so if this doesn't work he's pretty much hosed. **

fictionfrek101:** I love the longer reviews, I'm glad that you liked it too much for words!**

SidiousSith: **Wild, yeah. This story is getting pretty out there. Oh, now I can't not have a Sith running around mucking things up can I?**

Jedi Knight 13: **I didn't even think 'Vader' when I wrote that, but hey, it works. Thank you, and enjoy!**

Lunatic Pandora: **He wasn't ready for that, and Anakin will meet Qui-Gon at the same time that his face is revealed to Obi-Wan, which should be next chapter.**

Kelev: **That is explained in this chapter.**

Chronormu, terriestal-angell, AgiVega, MrPowell: **Thank you all for joining the tale!!!**

Teresa: **Your welcome. It is of course, when you get down to the nitty gritty of writing, the writer's job to torture their characters. It isn't any fun to read a story where everything is going great. I suppose that it is most fun for me to torture Palpatine, but he's so easy...**

DanaeMarieSkywalker: **Until Palpatine's what? My lips are sealed on his Ultamate Fate...Are you wondering about the Special Session of the Senate?**

Barranca: **Thank you, I try to weave well. I cannot tell you the Ultimate Fate of either Qui-Gon or Maul...Sorry. Oh, and thanks for joining in!**

* * *

Chapter 26

Qui-Gon walked up to where his Padawan was leaning against the retaining wall of one of the fountains. He seemed slightly upset, but he'd seemed slightly upset since he'd walked in while Leia had been telling her story. "This is my favorite fountain, Padawan, but I've never seen you near it voluntarily before."

"It is a path to understanding, Master."

"Now you're just mocking your old Master."

"No, I think I am beginning to understand it."

"Finally. I was starting to think there was no hope for you, Padawan."

Obi-Wan grinned. "So does that mean that I'm ready for my trials?"

"I've given much thought to that recently. I think that with maybe one or two more missions under your belt, yes, you will be ready."

"So are you going to train Anakin, once you have me knighted?"

"No. I will not," Qui-Gon said with a tinge of regret. "But I'm sure that he will be trained."

"You mean me, don't you?"

"I never said that, Padawan," he retorted, tugging lightly on Obi-Wan's braid.

"You only say that when someone hits closer to the truth than you like, Master."

"Are you saying, Padawan, that I am predictable?"

"No, Master, you are the least predictable Jedi Master in existence. But you have your moments."

"Are there others of these moments you wish to share with me?"

"You are entirely too over-protective of your Padawan."

"Obi-Wan…" Qui-Gon said, pleading for the boy to understand.

"There will come the day when you are not around to protect me. I will be very sad when that day comes, but it will come nonetheless."

"Padawan, I am not the only one trying to protect you this time. Yoda has decided that it is not something that you need to know about either."

"I see."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan took a long time to answer. "It means that I can see that something is amiss with the future. A great war is brewing, even now, though the conflict has many years before it breaks out. The Sith rise and show themselves, somehow taking over, and even destroying and scattering the Jedi. Darkness falls over the Republic. Something happens, I don't know what, but Luke is in the middle of it. Leia and Ben are there, too. And this Han, who, to all appearances, didn't come back with them. If the four of them are so pivotal in the future, and are here, why didn't he come back as well?"

"The answer to that is part of the pain that was caused. I will not answer that question for you, as it is not my secret to tell."

* * *

Anakin walked through the Room of a Thousand Fountains to the edge, where there were staircases up to the upper floors. He took one, up to his rooms. He paced about, restless, until there was a knock at the door. Wondering who would disturb him, he went over to the door and opened it, and his jaw about hit the floor. 

"I didn't think I would shock you quite this much."

He shut his mouth with an audible click of teeth, then said, "Come in, come in. I'm sorry. You have questions?"

"Yes. Are you…"

"No, no. It was simply the most logical reason for you to be here. Come in, Leia."

He escorted her to the common area, where there were chairs, and a sofa arranged in a roughly circular design. "Would you like anything? Tea, caf?"

"No, I'll be fine. I wanted to ask you about Alderaan. You really wouldn't have destroyed it?"

"No. In fact, I don't think I would have even bothered building the Death Star, as much of a pain in the rear as that thing ended up being."

"Will you talk about Mustafar?"

"You don't want to hear about Mustafar. It was the day that I lost all semblance of control over myself. It pains me greatly to think of that day. Ask me anything else, Leia, but please, not that."

"I want to know. Maybe this will help me understand why Mother was so, so very sad. I want to understand why I never had my parents, my real parents. I loved Bail and Breha, but I need to know why I spent my life with them instead of you and Mother.

"You did so because I was stupid and angry when two people who loved me, more than I loved myself, even, asked me to do the one thing I thought I couldn't."

"Tell me, please, Father. I think this is the piece of the puzzle that I'm missing."

Anakin sighed, "If you want to hear about my darkest day, I can certainly tell you," he was still for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts about that awful day. "You are so like her. She'd do this very same thing to me."

"What's that?"

"Prod me into something that she wanted and I didn't. I could almost never say no to her."

"Tell me. Tell me why my mother was so sad."

"This is the last conversation I had with her before she died. I was younger than you are now, maybe by a year now," He started with an excuse, like walking into water instead of diving, "I'd killed everyone that I could get my evil hands on, kill, kill, kill," Shame started to creep into his voice, "I'd gone to see Padmé, told her where I was headed, and why. I told her I'd be back," He looked down, unable even to meet Leia's eyes, and he'd only just begun the story, "Obi-Wan went to visit her, figured out several things, that she was pregnant, that you and Luke were mine. He told her what I'd done at the temple. She was distraught; refusing to believe it, something I think Obi-Wan was counting on. He hid away inside her ship, and she decided to come to find me. I don't know if that was exactly the order, but all of those things did happen." He paused, having set the stage, but not ready to go into the action.

"Why did you go to Mustafar?" Leia prompted.

Anakin sighed. "I don't suppose it matters anymore, but I went to Mustafar because Sidious had told the Separatist Council to meet there. I'm fairly certain that that is how he knew where they were, at this point anyway. I believe that he controlled both sides of the war. I went and I slew every one of them. It was to me, the end of the war that I'd spent three long years down in the trenches fighting. Everyone who was in power in the 'opposition' was now dead. I was not going to have to fight anymore. It was freedom." He looked at Leia, trying to judge her reaction to what he was telling her, but, like her mother, that Senator's mask had dropped over her features.

"I contacted Dear old Palpatine, who told me that I should contact the Trade Federation and tell them to shut down the droid army. Before I could get any farther than that, I saw Padmé's ship arrive. She wanted so badly for me to tell her that the awful things Obi-Wan had told her weren't true, but I could not. All she wanted was for me to love her, but all I could see was her dying, and that I couldn't save her. I even said so to her. She told me all she wanted was my love," he said as a tear started down his cheek. "I wanted to listen to her, but I was consumed in the hate and rage of the Dark Side. There was no room inside me for love anymore. It had been pushed out of the way, into a dusty corner in my soul, to lay forgotten for 20 years," He'd gotten off track again, but not unreasonably so.

"I'm not sure that I understand how it's like that."

"I pray that you never have to, Leia. The Dark Side is like a very addictive drug. I think I will regret for the rest of my life, telling Padmé that the Darkness would save her. If I had only listened to her, even then, she might not have died." Anakin took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself.

"She started crying then, she still wanted me to be who I was in her heart, she asked me, 'At what cost? You are a good person. Don't do this.' I was lost, though, lost in the drug of power, I screamed at her, raging with the heat of the darkness that was consuming my soul. 'I won't lose you the way I lost my mother!' I told her, 'I've become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of and I've done it for you; to protect you,' and I thought that I had. I thought that I had done all this to save her. But I hadn't, not really. She didn't need saving, she needed me. I'd done it because I couldn't stand the thought of having to be without her. It's been a really long time in coming, but I understand now that if I had loved her enough, I would have been able to let her go, come to terms with her death, if that was truly her fate."

"Do you think your going to the Dark Side is what killed her?"

"I don't really know. It might have been that she wouldn't have died. I went and looked at her medical records at Polis Massa. There was no medical reason why she died."

"There was no reason for her to have died?"

"Not that the medical staff could trace down. Although now that I realize that the medical records were incomplete, as there was no mention of either you or your brother, there may be a reason that was directly related to the birth."

"What happened next?" Leia prompted him, as he'd gotten lost in thought.

"Oh, she begged me to come away with her, to go hide ourselves from the burden of the Empire, raise the child that was growing inside her, together with her, but I couldn't tear myself away from the Dark Side. If only I'd been able to hear her words, but the power singing darkly through my veins beat a pulse that drown everything else out, I told her ridiculous things, we wouldn't have to run away anymore, we could rule the galaxy together, overthrow the Chancellor," he sighed, "even then I didn't believe that he had the best interest of the galaxy at heart," Anakin had gotten up, pacing to help him remember the conversation. This memory was both the thing he spent the most time trying to repress, and the one that popped up most often at the surface when his mind wandered.

"'I don't believe what I'm hearing,' she told me, 'Obi-Wan was right. You've changed.' I didn't understand what she meant then, but I do now."

He felt the heat coming to his face, shame at the next series of events already crawling on every nerve. "Even his name infuriated me, 'I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan.' I screamed at her, 'The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me, too.' I couldn't stop myself, I felt possessed, like the rage running through my body had a consciousness. But it was what she said next that always chills me to the core, and that was, 'I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow,'" he stopped for a few moments to let the emotional build up dissipate a bit.

Leia had curled into a ball at the emotional tension that he was creating. "Do you want me to continue? It only goes downhill from this point on."

"I don't know what to say. It's almost like I'm seeing it inside my head."

"You probably are. I think that you might be getting the reverse of the effect that I was telling you about this morning."

"So what happened next?" Leia asked him.

"'Because of Obi-Wan?' I shouted at her enraged again because I thought that my best friend was coming between her and me. I was always so insanely jealous, because of the secret that the marriage was out of necessity. She was unwaveringly loyal, and all I could do was be jealous of any moment that I wasn't with her," he shook his head, understanding the folly of his youth.

"'Because of what you've done,' she told me, 'what you plan to do. Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you,' she begged me again, and maybe I would have seen reason, although I doubt it. It was at that moment I saw Obi-Wan coming out of her ship," he looked at Leia, knowing that the hardest part of the story was coming up.

"Something bad happened then, didn't it?" she asked him.

He stretched one arm up to the back of his head, scratching where he should have had hair, "Yes. Do you want to hear about it?"

"Yes. I want to hear it all. It's starting to make sense to me, a little."

He nodded, "So, I saw Obi-Wan coming off of her ship, and I said the most awful thing—and thought the most awful things, images of her and Obi-Wan together swam through my head. 'Liar!' I screamed, 'No!' she told me, the horror of what was going to happen now, so clear on her face. But I was so far gone into the rage that I couldn't see it. 'You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!' I screamed at her. She tried to tell me the truth, 'NO! Anakin. I swear ... I,' was all she got out before I wrapped my anger around her throat."

Leia gasped, not expecting something that was so classically Vader. "Was that your answer anytime anyone annoyed you?"

Chagrin colored his features, "Pretty much. It was effective. If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

"So, then what?" she asked confused.

"I shouted at Obi-Wan, he shouted at me, Padmé went unconscious, and Obi-Wan kept telling me to let her go, so I did. We shouted at each other some more, circling. I didn't understand what he was wanting, until he was next to her. He reached over, feeling her pulse. I still remember the wave of relief from him. She was alive. Something in the deepest hollow of my being, where my feelings for her still resided, sighed in relief in return."

He looked down at his hands, thinking about how he'd used his own hands to do such awful things. "What happened then? Did you and Obi-Wan fight?"

"Yes. That is when the fight started. We fought for, I don't know how long. It seemed like hours. Mustafar was a planet of seething volcanic activity, rivers were not those of water, but those of lava, and cooled volcanic rock made up the rest of the surface. Not that there was really much of that, but it was there, in spots. We jumped to the tower, but something happened, making it snap, it fell slowly as we fought atop it, eventually dropping into the lava river below us. Each of us jumped onto one of the collection droids, and we continued to fight. I was so sure that the Jedi had been holding me back; that I was so much better than any Jedi out there, including Obi-Wan. I was the Chosen One, the Jedi poster boy. I was stronger than Master Yoda. I was on top of the world. The Dark Side whispered these things to me, and I listened. I listened and to me they were true."

"Then what?" Leia said, after he'd gotten lost in thought about the fight again.

"I got onto the platform that Obi-Wan was on. It was only just big enough for both of us. I said awful things, he said stuff back. He was trying to get me to see reason. He told me that he'd failed me. That the reason that I had turned was that he'd never taught me how to think. He got off the platform onto the bank of the river. He told me that it was over. I was so consumed by rage and hate that I couldn't see that he was right."

"Then?"

"I tried the most foolhardy stunt of my entire life. I tried to jump over Obi-Wan, so that I could regain higher ground, and we could continue fighting. That was when he did it. Sliced right through my legs, and cut my left arm. My hate for him boiled at that point. I didn't forgive him until after I killed him. He said the things that I always had wanted to hear him say," Tears started down his cheeks again. "He said to me, 'you were my brother, Anakin, I loved you.' Then the heat of the river caught me on fire. I burned, and he stood there watching for a moment. He couldn't kill me, even then, even out of mercy. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he left." Anakin took a ragged breath, releasing some of the emotions attached to the scenes playing in his head, some of them permanently. "He, so far as I have been able to determine, took Padmé to Polis Massa, where she apparently gave birth to the two of you, then died. I'm fairly sure that Bail was there, as he made the arrangements for Padmé's funeral. Maybe even Master Yoda, before he went to Dagobah."

"I'm not sure I'll ever understand what you did, but now at least I understand why you did it."

"I suppose that will do for the day, or did you want to torture this old man further?"

Leia looked startled when he said that, but he'd said it with the intent of relieving some of her tension, it took her longer than he would have liked, but she laughed quietly after a little while.

"Have you gotten a chance to talk to Master Qui-Gon yet? I was thinking that he wanted to have a talk with you."

"I'm not entirely sure what I would say to him. What do you say to the person who plucked you out of the crowd, championed you to a less than receptive audience, and then, when he died, the man who had been like a son to him, who took in such a restless waif, and then you turn your back on that love, and kindness, and try not once but twice to try to kill him?"

"I don't know what you should say to him, but avoiding him isn't the answer." They talked for a while longer, until Leia drifted to sleep on the sofa.

* * *

Obi-Wan wandered around until he ended up in the salle. Luke was there, practicing. "I figured you'd be off with Ben or Leia." 

"They're talking. I'm not getting in the middle of that." Luke said, with a strike move.

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan said, He took off his outer cloak and started to practice with Luke.

"I mean she's got an awful temper, and his is twice as bad, and they haven't been on the best of terms, ever, but they promised to try," he said as he went through the next move.

"What, for your sake?" Obi-Wan asked, with a little bit of humor in his voice.

"For everyone. You want to spar?" Luke said as he finished the last move of that set.

"I guess I could do that. Why aren't you checking on Ani?" Obi-Wan said, stripping down to the bare essentials of clothing.

"That's where Padmé is." Luke informed him.

Obi-Wan stood ready to spar. He understood not being around those two—they were oblivious to the rest of the world when they were together. "Alright. So you're here because it's easier than being around other people."

"Yeah. Sometimes it is. Coruscant makes me nervous sometimes. It's so big," Luke said as they started to test each other, circling, and crossing blades, each waiting for the other's opening move.

"It's not really any bigger than any other planet." Obi-Wan said, as he countered a strike that Luke started with.

"That's not what I mean. There are so many people here, all crowded onto the planet." Luke said, trying a different strike, but again being countered.

"I suppose that for someone who'd been raised on Tatooine it would be a bit intimidating." Obi-Wan said, realizing that there were many parallels that he could already draw between Ani and Luke. He was sure there were many more, but he wasn't allowed to have that information. He pressed an attack, surprising Luke for a moment, but quickly they were back to circling one another.

"It is. I think Anakin will have a bit better time with it than I am." Luke said, pressing another attack.

"Why's that?" Obi-Wan asked, slightly confused.

"He's younger, and he'll have you to show him around." Luke answered.

"You could come, too, if you wanted." Obi-Wan offered. He liked Luke, and wanted to be able to spend more time with the young Knight.

"Nah. I don't think that I need to spend so much time on Coruscant. It gives me the willies."

"Come on, there must be something that you find to be a redeeming feature of Coruscant?"

"If there is, I haven't found it yet."

* * *

Padmé sat down on Ani's bed. He'd fallen to sleep, with a datapad in his hand. It was not really that late, just past sundown, but he'd been through a lot. She gently pulled the datapad out of his hand, and laid it on the small table by his bed. She tucked his hand into the bed, then pulled the blanket up over him, and was about to leave, when he woke up. 

"Padmé?" he asked her groggily.

"Shh. Go to sleep. You need your rest."

"No, I want to talk to you. I didn't think that you'd get to come see me."

"We are staying at the temple, so it wasn't that difficult. Leia came with me, but she went to go talk to someone else."

"Are you going to go back to Naboo when you're done talking to the Senate?"

"Yes. I cannot stay here. My place is with the Queen."

"And I can't go with you. I want to learn to be a Jedi like Master Qui-Gon, and Master Yoda and Obi-Wan and Luke." he said, naming off every Jedi he'd met. "Obi-Wan promised that I would be a Jedi."

"He did, did he? I'll bet he's right. I'll bet you'll be a great Jedi."

"I only wish…"

"That everyone you love could be here with you?"

"Yes. I'll be sad when you and Leia leave with the Queen. I wish there was a way that Mom could have come with us, too."

"I'm sure that your mother will be fine. Watto seems nice enough, and there will be a way someday to get her out of there, I'm sure."

"I hope so. Can I have a drink of water?" he pleaded.

"I suppose so." She found a cup and a pitcher of water sitting on the table.

"So how is this guy?" a healer said, coming up and ruffling his hair as he was drinking his water.

He batted at her hand with his right arm. "I'm bored."

"Do you think it would be ok for him to go visit some friends of ours?" Padmé asked, getting an idea.

She studied him for a moment. "I don't think it will do any harm. He's got a reasonably good grasp on how to use his new arm, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. An hour?"

"We should be able to be back in that length of time."

"Yippee!" the boy tore the covers off, and practically ran to the door. She followed him, laughing, and took him back to her guest rooms, where Jar Jar was waiting.

"Ani? Oh, My so smilen ta see that Yousa okeeday."

"It's good to see you too, Jar Jar." The sound of his voice brought beeping from another room, followed by R2. "R2! How have you been?" R2 beeped at him. "Really?" the boy said, intuiting an answer that Padmé couldn't have. She watched for a while as Ani continued to have a bubbly conversation with the droid, laughing at the droid's comments.

"Ani?" she asked when he started to repeat himself.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you want to talk to me and Jar Jar?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, hopping up onto the sofa between them. They had a nice talk before Padmé had to take him back to the healers. When they got back, there wasn't anyone there.

"I don't like it when I'm alone," he said to Padmé.

"I don't want you to be alone," she told him, feeling his sudden fear, "it can be really scary, I understand."

"Can you stay with me until the healer comes back?"

"Yes," she told him, tucking him in, then laying down on the bed beside him. He drifted off rather quickly, and she did as well, although she didn't even realize that she was as sleepy as he was.

* * *

Maul had gotten the path the Queen and her party would be following to the Senate building. He waited over the traffic of the mega city, feeling the primal emotions of those below, the senators, lusting after their secretaries, the underlings longing for the power of those over them. A jealous husband in a murderous rage, he grinned in satisfaction as he acted on that rage. The raw power of those raw emotions feeding Maul, this was what lesser beings were for, to feed their rightful masters. He closed his eyes and fed on an entire city of fear, anger, and violence. He felt a pimp beating a hooker for not making enough money, he denied her the death sticks she wanted, and then to Maul satisfaction he took his money in flesh. His anger and lust, spiced with her fear and pain, and yes, just a hint of the shame she felt. He smiled as the feast came up to him. He rolled spiritually in the darkness, letting it permeate every fiber of his being, letting it strengthen him for the coming fight. He thanked his Master for having shown him the raw power available. It was intoxicating, a powerful drug, but one that cleared his mind, gave him focus and strength. 

The Jedi were fools to think that it was wrong to take what the great mindless masses offered up everyday. They went about their pointless lives, never getting ahead, feeling resentment at their lots in life. Often that resentment built to anger, then rage. Less often, that rage led to violence. Maul appreciated the power that came from murders and rapes and other violence, but he never felt the desire to inflict such things on people. He was Sith, he was above random violence. He wasn't above rape or murder, but he was above SENSELESS rape and murder. Violence was a precious resource, and one did not waste it.

His Master now had a new plan. Maul had a Trade Federation droid fighter that he would use to attack the Queens transport. He didn't expect it to finish the job, not with the Jedi with her, but he did suspect that the droid fighter would be able to force them down into bowels of the city. Once there he would be able to attack them without the whole planet knowing about it. Maul took time to appreciate the genius of his Master's plan, with the Queen dead, he himself would call for the vote of no confidence, having that authority due to the death of his sovereign, that and the prima faica evidence that the Trade Federation was behind the assassination would seal his election as Chancellor. His Master's next move would be to destroy the Holocron he had created for Maul. Just as well Maul already had the holocron in his possession. Using the Force to find its location had been child's play. However, the fact that he HAD the holocron didn't mean he was ready to dispose of his Master, far from it. If Sidious's plans worked, Maul could be very patient in waiting to strike. First, to confirm the Holocron was genuine, and second to let Palpatine do the hard work of forming an Empire for Maul to rule. It was an equitable distribution of the effort, in Maul's estimation.

The time for ruminations had passed; the Queen's transport was coming into range. He pushed the activation switch for the droid fighter. It leapt up from its hiding place among the glistening towers of the Capital and headed for its oblivious target.

* * *

Mace watched over a senior Padawan Lightsaber class. There were six students, and he'd promised to take one of them on, and train them in the Vaapad style. They were the best of the Padawans of senior rank, at least of those that wanted to learn. He personally thought that Kenobi was better than some of those here today, but he, like most Jedi kept his opinions to himself. He called two of the students over. 

"I am dropping you from this competition. I do not think that you will have what it takes to learn this style. It does not mean that you are not good with the Lightsaber, just that you would not do well with this style."

"Yes, Master Windu," they chorused.

To the other four he said, "You are dismissed. We will meet again tomorrow."

"Yes, Master Windu," they said back, then took off to the showers.

Mace left to go see Yoda.

* * *

Leia stood on the platform with the other handmaidens. It had been decided that it was too dangerous for any but Padmé to go, and of course she was being escorted by the three Jedi. She watched and waited, as the rest of the handmaidens went back inside. She felt disquiet edging around her senses, then someone put their hands on her shoulders and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned and looked up under a Jedi hood to familiar piercing blue eyes. "You startled me." 

"I see that. You can feel it, can't you? Like something waiting to happen."

"Yes," she said looking back out toward the senate building. As she did a ship, like a vulture, came up out of the city. She didn't know what attracted her attention to it, it wasn't like there weren't a thousand other ships joining into the traffic stream, but she was sure that it was going to attack her mother and brother. "There," she said, pointing it out to her father.

"Yes, I see it. You are doing well in trusting your instincts."

* * *

Palpatine stood on the landing platform that the Queen and those wretched Jedi where supposed to be using when they showed up. If everything went according to plan, they wouldn't be showing up, but he couldn't let on to that. He watched the traffic flow from the Jedi Temple. It wouldn't be long now; he'd sensed the four of them coming closer to him. He watched as a droid ship singled out their ship, trying to force it down into the city so that Maul could dispatch them. 

They were far enough away that if he hadn't known what to look for, he wouldn't have seen it. He calmly waited, watching the fight, then the ship started into the underbelly, and the droid ship following it. He felt rather than saw Maul following it into the pits of Coruscant. After Maul had arrived at the Queen's ship, he took a moment to speak to the Chancellor. "Isn't it about time that they should be here?"

* * *

Yoda was in meditation when Mace found him. He cracked an eyelid, watching Mace settle into a meditation pose. "Troubled are you today, Master Windu?" 

"I've felt unsettled all day."

"Felt it as well, have I. Important is today."

"I don't know what to think. It's like the Force is clouded."

* * *

Luke was enjoying the challenge of Coruscant's thick traffic. Letting the Force flow through him he easily weaved through the traffic toward the Senate Building. He felt the nervousness of his Mother and sent her a wave of energy, relaxing her. He soaked in the energy of the city. It was so full of life. Hope, love, compassion wafted up through the spires energizing him, it was like a cooling stream where he could drink his fill and never come close to draining it dry. Indeed he found the more he drank of the cooling energy the more was available. It was like the very act of fortifying himself fortified those of who he was partaking. A true symbiosis of existence, he opened himself up fully to the experience. Colors were more vibrant; the air smelled sweeter, details more easily seen. He thought back to the first time he opened himself up to the Force on the Falcon; it had been an incredible experience to KNOW what to do without knowing. That paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. It was like having eyes for the first time, he still needed to learn how to use this newfound sense, but it was exquisite to experience. He'd been noticing hints of it ever since he'd stopped his Mother from killing Ani on Tatooine. 

He then felt something else, someplace below them, someone was being pressured to steal something, they didn't want to, but their strength was wavering. He sent them, almost reflexively, the strength that they needed to say no. He felt that strength go into them and internalize becoming a part of who they were. He started to understand better just what a loss the Galaxy had suffered with the death of the Order. With one small act, Luke had set an individual onto a path of contentment, if not happiness. He didn't know what their future would bring; only that it was now much brighter than it had been moments ago. He smiled; his mother looked at him and couldn't help but smile seeing her son so happy.

Then he felt it; this was something he was familiar with, danger sense. He instinctively took the transport to port as two laser blasts flew past through where they just were. He knew they were under attack, but he didn't know what to do about it. Their transport wasn't armed, nor was it as maneuverable as his beloved X-Wing. Only his Jedi reflexes were keeping them alive as he dodged another volley. He reached out with the Force, trying to determine who was attacking them, he felt the ship, but there was no pilot. He took the transport straight down through the traffic lanes. Luke knew this chase had to come to an end before anyone got hurt. He directed the transport to an abandoned building and gunned the throttle. His mother gasped at this and sent him a look, Luke didn't have time to acknowledge it at all, he waited, and waited. He felt Obi-Wan's tension level rise, then even Qui-Gon's began to elevate, then at the last micro-second he pulled up.

The transport groaned under the strain. Luke was pushing the civilian craft about as far as he would his X-Wing, yet somehow it was holding together. However that wouldn't last long. Luke could sense the stress points on the transport; she didn't have too many maneuvers like that left in her. Of course Luke doubted her designers even had them in mind in the first place. His hope of the fighter crashing into the building went for naught; that ruled out remote control. What was that thing, and what's more, who sent it? Surly the Trade Federation wouldn't have one here, on the Capital. Another thing that bothered Luke was that this was totally out of character for the Trade Federation, according to his Mother the Federation had plenty of parliamentary tactics at it disposal; also, the presence of the Jedi was to be an unexpected surprise, known only to her and Senator Palpatine. Palpatine knew, he must be the one behind this attack, but why, he needed the Queen alive to ask for a vote of no confidence. Under Senate rules, only the leader of a world could do so. It made no sense. Luke kept one step ahead of the droid fighter while he was puzzling this out, acting on the instinct borne of years in combat and his Jedi training.

"Ok, this isn't working, lets try a trip down Beggar's Canyon," Luke said, more to himself than anyone else, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Beggar's Canyon?" his Mother asked, Luke couldn't give her an answer as he put the transport through a half split S and headed down towards the undercity. The sun disappeared in the canyon-like walls of the buildings that made up Coruscant's surface. The traffic was lighter down here, but it was also a LOT tighter. Luke was hoping to lose the fighter down here, but it was sticking tight too him. Who ever programmed it knew what they were doing. The droid fired again, only not at them, but at a catwalk above, knocking it supports out, the catwalk fell right into Luke's path. Luke sensing the danger popped the transport up with the repulsors, which whined with the strain of the abrupt maneuver. Just before then, the droid opened fire at where they would be, Luke reacted a second too late and a blast scored the starboard side of the transport, further weakening that side. Luke then rolled the transport onto its side and used the repulsors again to bounce off a building and complete a ninety-degree turn at 200 KPH. The hull groaned, and the repulsors cried under the punishment they were receiving. Luke quickly righted the transport only to be greeted with two laser bolts flying past. The fighter was still with them. Luke was running out of options, the transport was going to give sooner or later, and Luke suspected it would be sooner. Then Luke saw a tee intersection coming up fast, he turned the transport back on its side again, hit the ventral thruster just before the buildings ended in the route he was on, and hit full repulsors again, hoping they'd hold out. They didn't, the transport slammed into the tee section, with enough force to loosen some teeth in the cabin. The repulsors then completely gave out and the transport assumed the flight characteristics of varnished permacrete. Luke angled the stricken transport toward a relatively wide, open roof. He then opened up all the transports drag flaps and began firing all reverse thrusters.

"Brace yourselves, this is gonna be bumpy," he said, and then the transport slammed into the buildings roof, tearing through the permacrete as it skidded along, rapidly approaching the opposite edge. He spun the ship sideways hoping the greater surface area would slow the ship more, as the edge of the building rapidly approached.

* * *

**AN:The Ani/Anakin thing...Nine-year-old Ani is in the scene with Padmé.**

**Anakin is in scenes with Leia.**


	27. Assassin revealed

**AN: Yay. Update. Short and sweet. Well, maybe not very sweet. I'll let you my wonderful readers decide that. This chapter just kind of fell together so easily after the last one that it's ready now. So here it is, after only about 25 hours... but please review as you feel compelled to...I tend to answer personally (for the most part) reviews from old chapters, especially insiteful ones...hint, hint.**

Teresa: **Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Well, the assassination attempt is the entirety of this chapter, so here you go. Success or Failure: you decide. **

TriGemini: **Might, hmm. yes Luke might take after his father in quite a number of ways. **

murdrax:** Maul, well, you'll see.**

MrPowell: **I don't think those types of ships are equipped with any sort of distress beacon or device, but you never know. Duel, this chapter. Luke's not a half bad pilot by the by.**

DanaeMariSkywalker: **As a matter of fact, yes, all of those things happen. Good guessing. **

Elusive Maverick:** No Leia, sorry. Somebody's got to stay with little Ani. She'd be more of a hinderance anyway. Yes she knows how to fight, use a blaster and that sort of thing, but she'd be distracting in the middle of lightsaber combat. It's ok though, because I can exploit her to my own evil ends that way. My lips are sealed on whether said conversation will take place.**

Charlie Hayden: **I can't tell you what's going to ultimately happen to Palpatine. I can tell you that later down the road, there will be ample opportunity for Anakin to protect Padmé from the dangers that she will face as a Senator. **

* * *

Chapter 27

Anakin felt Luke's high emotions through the force, and he knew that particular combination well; high adrenaline, spiced with a little bit of fear, a twinge of terror, happiness, and the shear thrill of holding it all together. Anakin was a little concerned, Luke wasn't really in a ship that should allow for him to do _that._ He felt Obi-Wan's spike of fear, then rush of relief. _Oh, he_ is _doing that._ Anakin felt a little deeper into his son's thoughts.

_Running from a droid ship. No time to talk._ Came a quick, terse response.

_Well, at least he has a good reason for scaring my Master. Strange how that is still how I think of him._

He felt a sharp spike of fear from both Obi-Wan and Luke, and picked up enough of their peripheral thoughts to know that the repulsors had gone out on the ship. Leia gasped. "Something's gone wrong."

"Yes. The speeder that they are flying is crashing. I don't think that they will have too much trouble landing it though," he informed her.

She sighed, not liking it. They'd lost sight of the little craft some time before, when Luke had gone off to try to loose the droid ship.

He was mostly concentrating on what Luke and the others were doing. He felt them bang down hard on the roof of one of the buildings, and helped weave a force wall with Qui-Gon at the edge of the building, which they ran into. The Force wall had enough flexibility not to further damage the ship, but the ship still nearly crashed through the small retaining wall around its edge.

"They are mostly intact, and the ship is down." He fell silent for a few moments as they assessed their injuries. "Your brother is fine; Padmé's been injured though. We should go tell Master Yoda." They turned to go inside, and Anakin kept in contact with Luke, as Qui-Gon started to Heal her. _Stubborn old man._ He thought as he started to hurry through the corridor.

* * *

Qui-Gon reacted quickly, using the Force he increased the density of the air in front of the transport, just enough to keep the transport on the roof as opposed to crashing through the small wall that surrounded the roof, an older architectural motif. As it was the transport nearly punched through it anyway. The impact was violent, one of the most violent that Qui-Gon had experienced. He quickly undid the restraints and took a few seconds to check the interior. Luke was already out of his seat checking on the Queen. Obi-Wan was opening the hatch. The Queen however was unconscious; her restraints had come loose from the bulkhead, probably due to all the stress the transport had suffered during the chase, and she had hit her head. 

"Mother," Luke was saying, checking her over with the look of a professional, not a professional medical person, but of a veteran combat pilot. He was also using the Force to check her.

"How is she?" Qui-Gon asked.

"She's got four cracked ribs, and one broken one. It has punctured her right lung. She's also got a concussion. Her right leg is broken, and her left wrist is fractured. I'm going to put her in a healing trance, unless you have a better idea."

"I wouldn't, not with those internal injuries. The most important thing we can do is stop the internal bleeding. It will be painful for her, but it will give us a chance to get her back to the temple," Qui-Gon said.

"Ok, how do we do that?" Luke asked. At that moment Obi-Wan poked his head back in.

"There is no sign of the droid fighter that attacked us, Master," he said.

"Good," Qui-Gon said, and then set to work on the Queen's injuries; he felt Luke following his every move with the Force. Luke's presence lent him a bit of strength, but he still carried the majority of the burden. Using the Force he moved the rib out of the lung, being careful not to do additional damage. The Queen moaned with this, the pain was so great. Once the rib was back near where it was supposed to be, he set about staunching the bleeding; this was exhausting work, making sure every last capillary was sealed, yet still flowing. It took him ten minutes to do it.

"There, she's lost a lot of blood, but I think she'll live until help arrives," Qui-Gon said finally.

"You finished just in time, we've got a fight coming this way, are you up to it?" Luke asked the elder Jedi.

"I will have to be," Qui-Gon answered.

* * *

Mace was sitting in Master Yoda's meditation rooms with him when Anakin and Leia burst into the room. "Someone has tried to assassinate the Queen," he informed them. 

"Tried?" Mace repeated.

"Yes, tried, and failed. She's hurt, we need to get someone out to her. The speeder that they were in was forced down and is no longer functional."

"What about the Jedi that were with her?"

"They are all uninjured. Qui-Gon is attempting to Heal the worst of her injuries, a punctured lung."

"Contact the Senate we must, to inform them of the lateness of her arrival, and the reason." Yoda said.

Anakin gasped suddenly, "Maul," he hissed. He raised his eyes to them. "They are under attack by Darth Maul. I must go to them now." He said, and ran from the room.

"Quick we must be. To the Healers," Yoda directed, getting into his hoverchair.

They hurried the short distance to the Healers.

"Leia!" Ani shouted at her as she came in.

"Ani. I'll be over to talk to you in a minute," she told him.

"Stay here with the boy, you should. A comfort you can be for him. Felt Obi-Wan's fear he has." Yoda told her as Mace explained to the Healers what they expected as far as injuries. The Healers packed as he talked, putting everything that they thought that they would need into two relatively light cases.

"Yes, Master Yoda," she said, going over to the boy as the two Master Jedi left with two Master Healers.

* * *

Obi-Wan knew his Master was more tired than he let on in front of Luke, the kind of healing work he was doing would tire a Master Healer, which Qui-Gon, for all of his talents and positive points, was not. Obi-Wan felt the coming danger a second after Luke mentioned it. He recognized it too; it was the same creature that had tried to kill Anakin on Tatooine.

* * *

Leia sat down on the bed. "Are you ok, Ani?"

"Something's wrong with Padmé," he said, crawling up into her lap.

"She's hurt but she's going to be alright," Leia comforted the boy.

"She's bad hurt. She's hurt worse than I was," He insisted, nearly in tears.

She tried to distract him. "How do you know that?"

"I felt her get hurt. It's better now, but it was really bad."

"Qui-Gon is helping her not to hurt so much."

"I want to learn to do that."

"I'm sure that you'll be able to do that as part of your Jedi training." Leia watched as a couple of the Healers eyed the two of them without alerting the young boy to their watchfulness. "So, do you know what's wrong with Padmé?"

He put his hand to his right side. "Here, something is broken." Leia nodded. "And her leg," he said, indicating the spot that hurt the most on his own corresponding limb, "and her wrist," he said indicating the left one, even though his was gone. "And she hit her head." He said rubbing not his forehead, but a spot toward the back.

"Is that everything?"

"I think so." He said. She watched as the Healers quietly got out the equipment that they would need to treat the injuries that he'd cataloged. She felt something from her brother, a flash of concern, she thought. "Ow," he said rubbing the back of his head. "I think Obi-Wan just lost a fight with a wall."

She felt a chill coming from her father, and she hoped she'd never feel it again, "Someone's there to help them, now," she said, trying to be cheerful about it. The fight defiantly hadn't been going as well as it could have been.

"That's good. I don't think it was going too well for them."

"I think that they were holding their own, but this should help to get—" She felt her brother get Force Pushed out of the fray and his leg got twisted somehow and she felt it snap.

"To get what?" he asked.

"To get the fight over with more quickly." She took a shaky breath. "I think Luke just broke his leg."

They held each other and hoped for a quick end to the conflict.

* * *

Maul was hoping to get to the Queen and at least end her life for his Master. The Jedi at this moment were bonus points. He left the _Scimitar _hovering over the rooftop where the transport had crashed. Who ever had been flying the transport was an excellent pilot; the best Maul had ever seen, even among the Jedi. He sneered as he hopped down from his ship. 

The three Jedi were already out of the transport and none of them seemed injured. It was time to remedy that fact, he threw out a Force wave first, then took his first blade into his new hand striking at the Padawan first, who blocked his attack proficiently if not expertly. _He will be the first to die_, Maul decided as he kicked the Padawan in the stomach sending him flying. Then he made a leap for the transport, noting the other two Jedi moving to intercept him. They met him in the air and there was a flurry of blows exchanged, continuing through the landing on the transport. Maul unleashed Force Lightning towards the older Jedi, the elder Jedi brought up his blade and the energy wrapped itself around it. Maul snorted and resorted to a cruder method of removing him from the fight, while occupying the elder Jedi's blade with Force Lightning he shot out a dart from his new hand that struck the graying Jedi squarely, then 10,000 volts shot through the Jedi Master crumpling him to the roof of the transport.

Maul then turned just in time to block the green blade of the other Jedi. Maul swept with his leg trying to trip the younger Knight, but this didn't work and just earned the Sith Lord a swift kick to the face, knocking him off of the transport. Maul flipped and landed on his feet, bringing his blade up to meet the Knight's blade. A furious clash of blows followed, neither combatant giving ground, then Maul felt a nudge along the Force and duck as the Padawan's blade swiped through where he was, clashing against the blade of the Knight, then as both Jedi pivoted their weapons down to finish him, Maul deftly rolled away, allowing his opponents' blades to pierce the permacrete roof, taking advantage of the second it took them to free their weapons he Force Pushed them. The two went flying, the Padawan hitting his head on a permacrete barrier, satisfyingly hard. Maul nearly spent a second too long gloat as the Master came up behind him, having recovered. Maul blocked the blow from behind, and then twisted, bending down, using the Force to deflect the Master's blade away while bringing his blade down in an attempt to disembowel the Jedi Master. This plan was foiled by the Knight's blade, blocking Maul's sweeping strike, Maul responded by Force Pushing the Knight away, but then Maul heard the sound of an approaching ship.

* * *

Padmé was scared out of her wits as the ship descended into the roof of the building. She got banged up pretty bad, and she felt really hurt. She was sure that she shouldn't be moving, not that she felt like she _could_ move at that particular moment. She lost consciousness. 

She regained consciousness in time to watch part of the fight. There was a red-and-black person. He was fighting with Luke and Qui-Gon. _Obi-Wan should be here,_ she remembered. Then another man came and he helped Luke and Qui-Gon. Luke got out of the man's way. Then the red-and-black man went away, and some other people came, and she drifted out of consciousness again.

* * *

Luke landed wrong after that last Force Push, he felt and heard his right leg snap, pain exploded in his brain, and it was all he could do to keep from broadcasting it through the Force. He knew that Leia felt it, and thought to her, _I'll be ok.

* * *

_

Yoda left with the Healers. He was prepared to take on this Sith, if it came to that. He knew Mace was ready, as well. He followed Anakin's brightness through the Force. It was strange how he'd seemingly shaken the darkness almost totally in the short weeks since he'd been there. There was more going on behind the mask he still pulled over his face, but it was mostly good. He anguished too much over what others would think of him, and not enough about what he needed to be doing, but Yoda suspected that he'd been that way always.

He felt, like someone stabbing his own body, the injuries of each of them, as they raced toward the fight, first Obi-Wan, then Luke, then…

* * *

Anakin urged the engines of the speeder faster, and he arrived. It was as he expected, the fight wasn't going well. He jumped from the ship in a swirl of robes. It wasn't going too awfully, but it could have been better. Obi-Wan had been thrown against a wall, and to all appearances had a concussion. Luke and Qui-Gon were fighting Maul, who, as he arrived, Force-Pushed Luke away, and started to attack the older Master with force. 

Anakin jumped into the fray, swinging at the Sith's spiked head. Maul ducked and struck out at this new threat, jabbing his crimson blade backward toward Anakin who back-flipped over it. While the tattooed Sith was distracted, Qui-Gon struck at his exposed middle, which Maul easily dodged with a cartwheel with a counter attack, which forced the elder Jedi to quickly abandon his offense and focus on defense. Anakin could sense the elder Jedi's fatigue, and wondered what had happened before he arrived to have weakened the Jedi Master so much. Anakin put it out of his mind though, and focused on the duel.

Anakin lashed out with his foot low and brought his blade up high near the terminus of the Sith's acrobatics, only to have his foot stepped on, hard, and his blade blocked. Qui-Gon came up from the left and Anakin was impressed with how the Sith was handling himself, he was a consummate warrior, for sure. Yet, Anakin couldn't quite figure on his end game. He was facing two opponents one of whom was fresh, he'd been fighting the whole fight, sometimes against three, indeed, Anakin could feel the Sith's fatigue and knew that sooner or later he would attempt something that just wouldn't work. Then the tattooed warrior did something unexpected. He leapt up towards his awaiting ship, and threw his lightsaber right for Qui-Gon. Luke and Anakin shouted, "NO!" as the crimson blade plunged through the elder Jedi's chest, and he crumpled to his knees, a blank expression on his face.

* * *

**AN: The Ani/Anakin thing...Nine-year-old Ani is in the Healers when Leia comes in with the Jedi Masters, and the scene that follows that with the two of them again. All the other scenes are he-who-was Vader.**


	28. The darkest hour

**AN: Here is the next (I assume) eagerly awaited chapter. I have already (Yay!) sketched out an outline for chapter 29. **

Flipside82, Cibbler:**Thank you for the compliment, and for joining the story.**

**To everyone else: Thank you for letting me know that you enjoyed the story. Qui-Gon, well, you'll have to read to find out what happened to him. As for Obi-Wan for those who asked, when Maul Force-Pushed both him and Luke, Luke was ok, but Obi-Wan either got more of the brunt of it, or failed to cushion himself properly and got a good whack on the back of his head, giving him a moderate concussion, and effectivly taking him out of the fight. He's not too bad off, but he'll have to take it easy for a few days. He wasn't quite with it when Maul did his little throw, so while he saw what was going on, he wasn't comprehending quite as quickly as he usually does.**

* * *

Chapter 28

Leia could feel concern coming off of Anakin and Luke in waves as they approached the temple. She held Ani close, willing him to be still. Luke's broken leg was apparently nothing to worry about, a clean break, that hadn't broken the skin. The other three were in much worse condition.

"Padmé!" Ani yelled across the room as they brought the injured through the main room to take them into individual rooms. He wiggled out of her grasp just as they closed the door.

* * *

Luke sat still. The Healer had told him that he needed to hold still, even when he wasn't moving. He looked over at the other patient in the room, and Obi-Wan looked back at him. He wasn't feeling well, but was recovering.

"Stop pacing, Ben, It's not like it will do any good." Obi-Wan told Anakin. Luke had to try really hard to keep his jaw from dropping open.

"It does good. Just ask your Master." Anakin snapped at him before he could stop himself. He sighed and sat down. "I'm sorry." Anakin said. _He's not doing much better with this whole thing than Obi-Wan is. _

"But why did that thing have to go and throw his Lightsaber like that? He could have just left. It was spiteful, hateful…" Obi-Wan asked.

"Because he is a Sith. That is what Sith do. They hate, cause fear, use anger. In his mind, if throwing his Lightsaber caused more pain than not doing it, that was a reason to do it." Anakin still held the evil weapon after having deactivated it while it was still inside Qui-Gon's chest. "Not that it would have lasted much longer anyway," he said and he twirled the thing around in his hands examining it. "This was not his back-up Lightsaber, but a new one constructed after he returned. That is how he gave it up so easily."

"How can you tell?" Luke asked.

"It's not well constructed," He flipped it over to show Luke the butt end of it. "This welding isn't smoothed, see? And the grip has no coating on it. There are only two buttons on it, intensity and the on/lock button. I'm surprised it's as well put together as it is, actually."

The door opened to the room then, admitting Yoda. He looked incredibly downcast. "What make you of these events?" He asked.

"Some things can't be changed, even you know that Yoda." Anakin told him.

"True this is. Changed cannot be, the nature of the Sith. Changed, must be the nature of the Jedi, to combat this growing threat." Yoda said. "The Sith's weapon, may I see it?"

"You can keep it," Anakin told him. "Hang it on the wall next to the other one," he said, trying to be funny, but not even succeeding with himself.

"Your strength, humor is not." Yoda said. "Your opinion of the weapon, what is it?"

"A weapon made in haste."

"I agree." Yoda said, putting the thing away.

"So you saw the double-bladed one that I brought back from Tatooine?" Obi-Wan asked innocently.

A flash of incomprehension flared through the Force. Luke wasn't sure if Obi-Wan could sense it or not. "Hmm? Oh, yes, fascinating thing."

If Obi-Wan had detected it, he didn't show it. He was a patient man, so to Luke that meant nothing. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's primarily a Sith Weapon, although there have been Jedi who've used them. They take a considerable amount of skill to wield so that you don't cut yourself in half, but otherwise they are what they are. I think it was a Jedi who first had the idea." Anakin said.

"Well enough for this Special Session of the Senate, do you feel, Obi-Wan?" Yoda asked.

"I," he started, but then took a deep breath. "I will be ready. Have they rescheduled it already?"

"Told the Chancellor, I did that this afternoon you would be able to attend. Important to the future of the galaxy this meeting is. Bad enough that put off once already it has been."

"I can do it." He said, not happy, but mindful of his duty.

"Wish that I did not have to send you, that here you could stay." Yoda said to Obi-Wan sympathetically. He turned to Anakin, "Escort them you will. Sidious and Maul, serious problems they will have, if again they attempt to disrupt the proceedings. Your judgment you may use as to whom you take."

"I'd like to take two ships," he said, "Sabé and some decoy Jedi in one. Padmé and Leia, Luke and Obi-Wan with me."

"Are you a better pilot than Luke?" Obi-Wan said fearfully.

Luke and Anakin shared a look. "I am. But don't think that that gets you out of maneuvers like the one Luke pulled on you, Obi-Wan. He did well," Anakin clapped Luke on the back. "I'm going to go see what sorry excuses for ships they have here."

Luke watched Obi-Wan's sinking reaction to the news. He looked absolutely despondent. "Cheer up Obi-Wan. He's never crashed anything that I know about."

"Reckless, always he is." Yoda admonished, "but in the right place his heart is."

* * *

Palpatine was still watching out over the horizon as an aide to the Chancellor walked up. "You have a message, sir. I think it's important."

"May I come, Your Excellency? It might be news of the Queen."

Valorum looked him over. "It might be at that. Come along." They walked into the building, and after a short walk to the Chancellor's office, he stood behind the Chancellor as the chancellor flipped the communicator on. Yoda appeared on the screen.

"Chancellor Valorum." Yoda said.

"Master Yoda. It is an unexpected surprise to speak with you."

"Grave news I bring you. I was summoned to a crash of the ship that carried the Queen of Naboo. She was gravely injured in the crash. After the crash, a Sith came down upon the Jedi with her, battling them. All three of them, he was able to cause harm to. Qui-Gon Jinn will not be attending, but quickly this matter must be resolved. Important for the future of the Galaxy, I feel this is. Reschedule for this afternoon, I request. The testimony of Padawan Kenobi and Knight Skywalker, enough they will have to be."

"I can understand that you want this over with quickly, but will the Queen be able to attend?"

"Attend she will. Broken bones, stop her they will not. Strong she is. See to my injured Jedi, I must now." Yoda said, and he cut the transmission.

"This disturbs me greatly, Your Excellency." Palpatine said. "I will take my leave of you now."

The Chancellor sighed. "Go. I'll go let the Senate break for lunch."

"Thank you, Your Excellency." Palpatine said, and then left the room. He hurried off to his office, where he would be able to check with his apprentice.

* * *

Padmé's eyes fluttered open, and she saw Ani, tears streaming down his face. "It's ok, Ani," she said, feeling the need to reassure him.

"You're hurt," he pointed out, touching the side of her face, which caused her a little bit of pain; he was gentle about it, but it shouldn't have hurt at all. _He's right, I'm hurt pretty bad. _

"It looks worse than it feels," she told him.

He nodded, grasping Leia's hands for comfort, she'd come up behind him at some point. "You were protecting the queen?"

"Yes," she said simply, not wanting to reveal the truth in front of so many strangers. He shouldn't know the truth, anyway.

"What's going to happen now?" He asked her.

"I'll get fixed up, and we'll try again."

"Do you have to? I'm scared, Padmé." Ani looked like he was practically shaking, he was so upset.

"I'm sure that she's not going to go without more protection, this time." Leia told him.

"I must do this, Ani; I'm scared too, but we must not allow ourselves to be ruled by fear, or we have already lost."

Leia knelt, bringing him around to face her. "That's right. Fear is the tool of the Sith. You remember the guy who took your arm off? He's a Sith. Are you going to let him win?"

Anakin shook his head adamantly. "No! He's a bad person, I can't let him win."

"I can't either," Padmé said, and Ani turned to her, with tears in his eyes, "and that means that I have to go to the Senate."

"Why is it so hard to do what is right?" he cried, as he let Leia gather him up in an embrace that he really needed at that moment. Padmé looked at Leia with a pained look. This was an awfully hard lesson for such a young boy, but it might be for the best.

"Come on," Leia said. "We need to get out of the way." She took him from the room.

* * *

Mace stayed behind when everyone went back to the Temple. He was not the most proficient Jedi at Healing, and he wanted to investigate the scene, see if there were any clues that he could garner from the wreckage.

The ship that they had been in had simply failed from the stress placed upon it. That much was clearly evident to him, as well as having been told that. They had been forced down by a droid ship. He wondered about that. It sounded like the Trade Federation again, but that wasn't the way that they operated, not normally. But if they'd taken up with a Sith…

Mace's musings were interrupted by a man in a military uniform.

"I am here to investigate the crash that nearly took the life of the Queen," Mace frowned inwardly. _Part of her retinue._

"I have already investigated this area. It has yielded no more information than was given to me by the Jedi that were with her."

"My understanding was that two of those Jedi were unconscious when they were taken away."

"True. Another Jedi had been monitoring their progress from the Temple, and came here as soon as he sensed there was a problem."

"Why didn't he just go with them?"

"He's…reclusive." Mace decided finally. "Look, we're not getting anywhere standing here. We need to find the ship that forced them down in the first place."

* * *

Anakin checked out the stock of ships available. He found the one he was looking for, a modified transport, something like what the Healers used, big enough for three Jedi and two handmaidens, and several others. He considered whether he needed to take any of her guards. It would probably be a good idea. 

He looked around a bit and found another ship that suited his purposes as well. A four-seater, much like what Luke had taken out that morning. Now he had only to decide who to put in it. _Maybe I should send Luke and Obi-Wan with Sabé, or at least Luke. _He left the ships out, waiting for their occupants, and headed back to the Healer's to talk to Yoda about which Jedi would be best to send in to masquerade as Obi-Wan. His own Force signature was enough like Luke's to make a passable imitation; it would take someone who knew some of their background to make the distinction once he was done. But Obi-Wan presented more of an issue.

* * *

Maul flew off from the crash site. He felt that he had done the best he could have done, while still complying with his Master's wishes not to risk himself unnecessarily. At least Qui-Gon Jinn was at least grievously injured. He headed off to his sanctuary; he had a Lightsaber to construct. Soon his Master would be dead. It was time to start planning for that eventually. That meant that his hunt for an apprentice would now begin in earnest. The Jedi would end Palpatine's life and he would be the Master. Maul smiled at this. He was going to collect his few possessions and vacate Coruscant. His path wasn't on the Capital, even his Master's Holocron had told him that much; it was in the Outer Rim. Maul saw what was coming; with the Jedi resurgence, the Republic would strengthen; this would place pressure on peoples that had gotten used to being left alone. This would give Maul the opportunity to stoke that resentment into a call for war against the Republic_. When the Hutts are forced to give up their slaves and the Trade Federation's charter is shredded before their eyes by the Senate these things will help to make war;_ _and also when the Republic takes back the authority to have a military from the corporations_, that would serve to anger those Maul intended to use, but without his intervention it would also cowl them into submission and servitude to the Republic. _This would not do, not under any circumstances. _He would see to it that the corporate mice that had been playing so merrily would fight when the cat came back. _It will be a glorious war, one that would destroy the weak, and leave only those fit to serve the Sith._ As for the Jedi, they will fight to defend their precious Republic, and in doing so, slit their own sanctimonious throats. With that final thought Maul laughed, heading inside his sanctuary and started to pack.

* * *

Obi-Wan held his breath, as he watched the Healers work on their patient. The prognosis wasn't cheerful, nor was it going to be easy. From the brink of death, slowly they were easing Qui-Gon back into the world of the living. It seemed to be working. He'd not had any problems yet, but one could never tell, with such a tricky thing as a chest wound. They had to excise the damaged tissue, so that the repairs that they made would be whole, and it was delicate work. _Hours and hours of this delicate work, where one little slip meant…_ He sighed as Luke came up behind him. "He'll make it, Obi-Wan, but we've got to go." He put a comforting hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. 

He turned and looked sadly at Luke. "Alright."

* * *

**AN: The Ani/Anakin thing...First Section:Leia senses Anakin, who is with Luke, as they both come in, worried about Qui-Gon, while she is in the room with Ani. I don't suppose that's well explained at all...I'll fix it later. **

**Nine-year-old Ani talks to Padmé with Leia there.**

**Anakin is in the scene with Obi-Wan, Luke and Yoda then goes and checks the ships available.**


	29. Maul's Betrayal

**AN: Thanks for the patience in getting this chapter up. It's a doosy...**

DanaeMarieSkywalker:**Thanks for pointing out Garen Muln for me, and as you can see, I've used him in this chapter!**

Teresa:** I might title a chapter that...If I kill him...I don't know yet. Death appears to be 3 chapters out, for someone...maybe two someones...(which would mean that I fibbed when I said I was killing less people than GL...Ah, well.)**

SLHM:** Why thank you. I appriciate when a particular section stands out to people, it helps me know what to keep writing...**

TriGemini: **Obi-Wan made it through this chapter without having a heart attack. He might have even enjoyed himself, but it really is a rare occurance.**

Cibbler:**Air Skywalker? Safest place to be...Can't convince Obi-Wan of that, of course, but it really is...**

full0fgrace:**I seem to be getting this up about twice a week, if that helps. I haven't gotten e-mail from fanfic for about 2 days, which makes me unhappy, but it will eventually be fixed. I think. This has happened before, and I got like this massive bunch of e-mail from them, all in one day. It was both kind of cool, and really sucky. **

Lunatic Pandora1:**Haven't decided yet. He's not exactly in top form, but maybe. **

Kozentaru Mitsukai:**Thank you for the compliment, and welcome to the story...hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

Chapter 29

Padmé tentatively took a few steps. She'd broken her leg just this morning, and was wary of using it, even though the Healers had said that she should be able to. "Don't go getting hurt again, or it could be twice as bad, but you're all patched up now, and you can go to this senate meeting of yours," the Healer told her.

"Thank you," she whispered. Leia had gone and gotten a handmaiden outfit for her, telling her that Sabé was going in a decoy ship with Luke, and some other Jedi. She went out into the main part of the Healer's Hall after changing, and was nearly immediately put off balance by a familiar tight embrace. "Easy now, I'm not entirely steady yet."

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly backing off.

She laughed a little, "It's ok, Ani. I'm not going to break, but I'd rather not be bowled over either."

"Are you going to the Senate?" he asked worriedly.

"I must," she said, kneeling so that she could be eye-level to him, "but Leia and Luke are going too, and Obi-Wan, and more Jedi than that. I think that they should be able to protect me, don't you?"

"And the Queen too?"

"And the Queen too," Sabé said as she walked into the room.

"Your Highness," she said, bowing to her friend and protector. Ani took off, toward Obi-Wan and Luke, who'd just entered through another door on the other side of the room.

"Padmé," she said, with little tone in her voice, but her eyes communicated the volumes of worry that she'd recently undergone. "We are happy to see that you have recovered from your injuries."

"I'm sorry to have failed in my mission this morning. We must carry on and try again this afternoon. The Senate will see that Naboo has been invaded, and we will save our people." Padmé said with force.

"Yes, we will. Two Jedi have been assigned to me, and we will be leaving soon, and arriving unannounced. You and Leia, along with two other Jedi, will arrive shortly thereafter." Padmé used a hand signal to indicate that she didn't know about this change of plans. Sabé signaled back that information would be forthcoming.

An older Jedi came in, headed straight for her. "Padmé," he said gently, "let me see your face." He took her chin in his hand, looking over the faded bruising, finally nodding. She looked into his eyes, finding them haunting, but familiar. _He is very strange. _She thought, but had little time for more. "Leia," he said, calling her daughter to him. "Can you help her with makeup for the bruising here?" he touched the side of Padmé's face, causing her to shiver. Leia nodded. "I leave you to your tasks. Luke will go with Her Highness, and Obi-Wan will come with us. I dare not trust anyone else. I'm going to find this friend of Obi-Wan's that Master Yoda said has masqueraded as Obi-Wan before."

"Certainly," Leia's eyes twinkled wickedly, "Ben." He looked unhappy at that.

"Take Obi-Wan with you. I don't want any of you not to have a Jedi within arm's reach." He said, not rising to whatever bait she was dangling. He left as Leia went to do as she was bid.

* * *

Obi-Wan went with the Queen and her two handmaidens. He still wasn't at his best, and Ani's thoughts and worry over Padmé and Qui-Gon were leaking into his mind. He didn't understand why, or for that matter, _how_, though. A training bond took a good deal of time to form, meditating together for extended periods. Obi-Wan remembered the first time the bond had opened between himself and Qui-Gon, nearly two weeks after his thirteenth birthday, and it had been an amazing experience. He'd gotten so lost in thought that he nearly collided into the dark brooding form of Ben coming from the other direction; as they touched the training bond flared to life, he saw images from Ben's eyes, only he was in them. He was central in them. Years flew past his mind, quicker than Obi-Wan could keep up with. However two sets of images were prominent, colored by extreme regret, pain and shame. First he was fighting an old man, who he thought he recognized, but he wasn't sure. He wore Jedi robes, but through the red of the mask he wore he couldn't really tell color that well. The old Jedi ignited his Lightsaber. 

"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete, when I left you I was but a learner; now I am the Master," Obi-Wan heard a mechanical voice say.

"Only a master of evil Darth," The voice of the old Jedi was distorted slightly by the audio pickups on his mask, but Obi-Wan recognized it as his own voice, older, a bit more gravelly, but his.

"Your powers are weak, old man." The mechanical voice said, after a few times crossing their blades.

"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." They fought; both of them past their prime, then Obi-Wan saw himself do something that he didn't understand. He raised his Lightsaber in salute and Vader cut him down, but his body disappeared. What did it mean?

The next memory assaulted him. It was an older memory. It was on a lava planet, he had just Force choked Padmé. Obi-Wan was there, and rage colored the memory, but fresh regret added to the emotional hue. And shame, shame at being fooled into making that choice. There was also a hint of new anger, but this was directed inward. They fought, hard, passionate. He was skilled, strong, but reckless as the end of that fight proved. He'd tried to jump over the Obi-Wan in the memory; he felt his Lightsaber slice 'Ben's' limbs off, then the hard landing. Then he heard his own voice say. "You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them. You were supposed to bring Balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness,"

"I hate you!" 'Ben's' voice screamed.

"You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!" Obi-Wan heard his other self say. Anakin? This brooding older Jedi was little Ani? The thought was washed out when the memory continued, and Obi-Wan felt the fires of the planet consume Anakin's body. He cried out and went to his knees.

* * *

Mace walked over where the debris of the droid fighter lay strewn over a building rooftop. There wasn't much left, and to be honest he didn't expect to find much. He closed his eyes and focused on the Force. He let the Force guide him through the debris, he saw snippets of the chase, but then as they'd been forced down, the droid ship just exploded. Mace assumed it was a self-destruct command. However Mace realized that even in that instance, the droid fighter's flight recorder wouldn't have been destroyed. 

"The Trade Federation is loathe to lose any of its equipment," Mace said to Captain Panaka who insisted on tagging along with Mace on his investigation.

"You think the droid's flight recorder is someplace in the debris. That makes sense. Men, fan out, we are looking for a flight recorder. It will probably be bright pink, if the Trade Federation made this," Panaka said.

"How do you know that?" Mace asked.

"When you do as much business with the Trade Federation as we have, you learn a thing or two about their habits. I have yet to see a Trade Federation ship's flight recorder that wasn't bright pink. I think their eyes pick that color up best in the most environments, or something like that," Panaka replied.

"I see…"Mace said.

About half an hour later one of Panaka's men called out that they had found it. Mace and Panaka ran over to the spot and took the hideous pink box from the security agent that had found it.

"You know more about these than I do Captain, if you would do the honors of extracting the data?"

"Of course, Master Jedi," Panaka was grinning while he worked. He was glad to be holding the first substantial lead in the assassination attempt on the Queen. It took Panaka less than ten minutes to begin extracting useful data.

"Anything you think would be most useful to us first?"

"Yes, the frequency that the droid fighter was using to communicate with its control box."

"Good thinking, we can trace it right back to the source," Panaka replied as he worked to retrieve the information Mace requested.

"If the control box is still on planet," Mace answered.

"I hope it is."

"If the Force is with us, it will be, my friend."

"Ok, got it," Panaka headed back over to the transport his team and the Jedi brought with them and then he keyed in the frequency from the flight recorder into the transports communication system. They almost immediately had a response.

"Ha ah! It is still on planet, and still active. The assassin must've been in a hurry to leave and forgot to turn it off, this will make finding it simple," Panaka said cheerfully, he quickly zeroed in on the source of the transmission, but then his face fell as he found the location.

"What's wrong?" Mace asked.

"He's smarter than I gave him credit for. The transmission is coming from the Senate Residence building. It's a dead end," Panaka said.

"Not necessarily, Captain, let's check it out and see if my theory is correct," Mace said.

"What theory, Master Jedi?" Panaka asked as the pilot set a course for the Senate Residence.

"I think your own Senator is behind this plot, Captain," Mace said, causing Panaka to go several shades paler.

They soon reached the Senate Residence; the transmission was coming from a lower section of the building, one that hadn't been used in ages. The pilot set the transport down on a landing platform that likely hadn't been used for at least a hundred years, if not longer. Mace and Panaka got out of the transport, Panaka was scanning.

"Someone's been using this old apartment for something, recently. I'm showing elevated power levels through out the apartment, not just the droid control transmitter."

"Shall we go see if we can find out who that might be?"

"After you, Master Jedi."

Mace took the lead, and took his lightsaber into his hand, not activated, not yet, but out, just in case. The exterior entrance looked like it hadn't been used in sometime, cobwebs hung at odd angles through the doorway.

"This is a disguise, to make this place look abandoned. This doorway is used often though, by one who is of short stature," Mace said, after looking around.

"How do you know?"

"Look down, you see the footprints?"

"Just barely, you've got good eyes."

"He's either not used this entrance often, or he has taken pains to hide how often it is used, the way the dust is only disturbed by a little," Mace said, then started forward through the doorway.

"Don't touch anything, I'll be calling a Jedi forensics team out shortly," Mace cautioned. Panaka nodded in response it was obvious to the Jedi that he knew how essential a preserved a crime scene was. Mace walked through the doorway, inside were numerous grotesque statues, and dark tapestries. Mace felt the chill of the Dark Side as soon as he entered the room. Who ever had been here had been a powerful dark side user. It was palpable to Mace, and he had to focus a moment to center himself. Mace saw a holotransmitter in the middle of the room. Using the Force he turned it on and had it transmit to the last person who had been contacted. He was not surprised when Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation came through; he was bowing to the image he was seeing.

"Yes, Lord Sidious, we weren't expecting your trans…You aren't Lord Sidious!" Nute shouted.

"No, I am not. I recognize you Viceroy Gunray. I suppose you are still overseeing your occupation of Naboo?" Mace asked, sounding angry.

"No…Yes…Master Jedi, have mercy on us, we are but humble traders; we were tricked into this!" Gunray said.

"What exactly do you know? Who is this Lord Sidious?" Mace asked, although he knew that was the Senator's Sith name from Anakin, but having proof one could take before the courts would be beneficial.

"That is the only name we were given by him. He says he is a Dark Lord of the Sith. We figured that he was just trying to intimidate us by using that old fright tale," Gunray said.

"Have you ever seen what he looked like?" Mace asked.

"Never very much of his face, Master Jedi, not that we can tell humans apart easily," Gunray said, his voice sounding more confident.

"Fine, this is what is going to happen if you value your lives. You will shut down your occupation forces and release the people of Naboo. You will make your best possible speed for Coruscant, where you will be arrested for treason, mass murder, high piracy and that is probably just a start of a very long list. Then you will provide testimony against this Lord Sidious in exchange for a mitigated sentence," Mace said.

"No, don't make us do that, he'll kill us for sure," Gunray said.

"Which would you rather have as an enemy Gunray, one man, or the entire Jedi Order?" Mace said.

"When you put it that way…" Gunray wheedled.

"Good, I expect you in two days time. Good day, Viceroy," Mace closed the connection with the Force and turned his attention to the stairs leading up, leaving the computer system to the forensics team.

"Let's see what's up here," Mace said, starting up the stairs, Panaka followed. The stairs terminated at a secret doorway, one that had seen frequent and recent use. Mace opened the door and Panaka stared in shock.

"This is Senator Palpatine's quarters!" Panaka exclaimed.

* * *

Yoda watched over his Padawan's Padawan, and _his_ Padawan's Padawan. "Master Yoda, is Master Qui-Gon going to be ok?" 

"Well he will not be for a long time, little one. Involved much is in this wound. Like your arm, in a way, it is. Come here often you will have to, to ensure that proper use of your arm you will retain as you grow."

"I hadn't thought about that." Ani said, looking at his new arm.

"Much there is that think about you do not. To think ahead, essential for a Jedi that is."

"Yes, Master Yoda. Being a Jedi isn't easy, is it?"

"Told you this already, has Master Qui-Gon."

"I didn't believe him," Anakin admitted.

"Believe him now do you?"

"Yes, Master Yoda."

"Still want to be a Jedi, do you?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. There is so much that I can do, to help people."

"Yet fear for your mother do you still?"

"Yes, Master Yoda, but how can I not? She's so far away."

"Safe she will be on Tatooine, for a time. Know you will, if this is not so."

"How do you know that, Master Yoda?"

"Always in motion is the future. Clear are some paths, and unclear are others. Clear is your mother's path. Safe she is, safer than if she were here. Unclear, but bright is your path."

"So you don't know what's going to happen to me?"

"Decide that for yourself, you must. Even in knowing one path of the future, changing the smallest detail, that future changes."

"So knowing the future doesn't even help, because you can change some little thing and mess the whole thing up?"

"Without enough information, drive yourself toward the very future you wish to avoid, you can."

"Stop scaring the boy, I think he's had enough Jedi dogma for one day," a voice rasped at Yoda.

* * *

Anakin saw Obi-Wan approaching and sighed, Obi-Wan was unusually distracted, because he didn't see any of the three girls around. Every time he saw Obi-Wan the bad memories came flooding back. He just hoped that this time around his younger self would be able to make the right choices. Then Obi-Wan screamed in pain. 

"Sithspit," Anakin cursed as he realized that the training bond was wide open, he moved quickly to shut it down, and knelt before the younger version of his old Master. "Are you alright? What did you see?" Anakin asked concerned.

"I saw you, Anakin." Obi-Wan whispered, "You killed me, you turned from the Jedi, joined the Sith, we fought, the first time I won, but I don't think I took joy in the victory. The second time you won, but I let you win. And you had little joy in your victory."

"The two worst things that ever happened in my life. Of all the memories you could pull from me, Master, you pick the two worst ones." Anakin shook his head. "What you say is true enough, though, killing you was far less satisfying than I thought it would be, indeed I mourned your passing, after a fashion. Then, after Luke brought me back, fully," Anakin said, his voice so very sad.

"You regret your actions," Obi-Wan said, a statement, not a question, just like he'd done with Anakin during his years as Obi-Wan's Padawan.

"Yes, I do." He frowned, "but I don't understand how the training bond came open like that."

"Maybe not having to shut me out, you got rusty." Obi-Wan said, with an expression that, over the years Anakin had learned to interpret as him trying to be funny.

He sighed, "Since it is, let me share with you the whole story, not just the ending. That's the bad part; the rest is pretty good, if you don't count the whole being at war thing," Anakin said, and then shared nearly every memory he had of Obi-Wan with Obi-Wan.

Anakin helped Obi-Wan up from the floor where he'd collapsed. "Come on, you were supposed to be protecting Leia and Padmé."

"Who was Ben? Since that obviously wasn't you Luke was talking about,"

"You," Anakin answered. "Ben Kenobi lived on Tatooine watching over Luke for all the time that the Empire existed, at least until he was 19."

"So, when you told me that Anakin had been tortured by the Sith…"

"It was the truth, from a certain point of view, especially if you were to consider Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader to be two different people, which I believe is what you told Luke, to try to cushion him from the truth."

"And you said Luke and Leia were all that you had left."

"So they are. Twins, Padmé's children."

"And yours," Obi-Wan added, knowing the truth from the memories Anakin had shared with him. "Why didn't you ever ask me for help?"

"There were many reasons for that, Obi-Wan. Primary among them is the relationship that I had with Palpatine."

"Which is why you are keeping him away from…"

"Yes." They rounded one more corner, nearly there.

"I have one more question—how do you tell Leia and Padmé apart?"

Anakin laughed, having apparently found his question very amusing, "Padmé isn't force-sensitive; Leia, while untrained, is nearly as much so as Luke is."

"Is that all?"

"Oh, no. There are many other ways to tell them apart, but that should suffice for you, until you learn other ways for yourself."

He opened the door to the Queen's apartment. "I believe that you lost something on your way here." The brooding mask was back. "Please try not to loose him again. Luke and that other Padawan should be here soon, Your Majesty, and you should leave as soon as they are."

"Thank you, Sir Jedi," Sabé told him from behind the mask of the Queen.

Anakin nodded. "I will return shortly."

* * *

Luke passed his Father on the way to the Queen's chambers; he felt that his Father was in a much better mood than he had been in a long time. 

"Father, what brought on this change in your mood?" he asked curiously.

"What mood change?" Anakin asked, keeping the expression of 'don't talk to me if you value your life' on his face.

"You're in a good mood, it's coming off of you in waves," Luke chuckled.

Anakin sighed, "Should've known you'd pick it up. An…incident occurred with Obi-Wan. He knows everything now."

"What sort of incident?" Luke asked, not as concerned as he should have been.

"The training bond between us has reopened. My guess is that the amount of time he's been spending with my younger self as well as my presence opened it up. He saw the Death Star and Mustafar, through my eyes. I didn't realize it until he screamed," Anakin said.

"He screamed?" Luke asked.

"Yes, apparently he felt the fires of Mustafar as they burned me. He's lucky it was only a memory and not the real thing," Anakin said.

"Is he ok?" Luke asked, finally realizing the scope of what Anakin was saying.

"He's fine, I don't know why I never saw just how supportive of me he truly was, until it was far too late," Anakin said, Luke felt his mood darkening.

"You've got a second chance, Father. Both of you do," Luke said.

"I don't know, Luke. It seems every time I get close to someone it gets ruined," Anakin said, his voice sad.

"Not this time, we've already changed things, it will be better," Luke said.

"True, but I won't have the same relationship with Obi-Wan, ever; indeed, do we even have a place here and now?" Anakin said, despair settling into his voice. It reminded Luke vaguely of some of Threepio's more annoying moments.

"Now I know where it came from," Luke said.

"Where what came from?" Anakin asked, puzzlement coming over his face.

"Threepio's doom and gloom attitude," Luke said.

"You think I'm depressing?" Anakin said, chuckling a little at the comparison.

"Yes, we have an opportunity here, Father," Luke said.

"I agree, Luke. That doesn't change the fact that we probably will be stuck here. I'm not looking forward to watching my younger self be with Padmé," Anakin said.

"Oh, so that's what this is about. You're afraid you'll be jealous and do something stupid," Luke said.

"Won't be the first time, son," Anakin said, "I don't want to go down that path again, but seeing her with another man…" Anakin said, tears glistening his eyes.

"But, she won't be with another man," Luke said.

"You've never been in love, have you Luke? I know up here," he tapped the side of his head, "that the person she'll be with is me, but not here," Anakin finished tapping his chest.

"That's what's bothering you; that staying here and having Mother so close yet untouchable will be…" Luke said, trailing off, mentally kicking himself for not seeing his Father's problem sooner.

"You understand now. Don't blame yourself for not seeing it, Luke. As I said, you've never been in love before. I never expected you to figure it out for yourself anyway," Anakin said.

"You're right, we have no place here. Han's waiting on Leia, you can't stay here because of Mother of the three of us I'd be the one that adjusts the most easily, but I'd miss Han, and Chewie, Wedge, Hobbie, Janson," Luke sighed.

"We don't belong here, I just wish I knew how to get us back," Anakin said.

"We don't even know how we got here," Luke said.

"True enough, but we are Jedi, and we have a job to do now, let's focus on that. The future will take care of itself," Anakin said.

"Yes, Father. Be careful, and may the Force be with you," Luke said.

"May the Force be with you too, son," Anakin said, then took him into an embrace, which Luke returned and he patted Luke on the shoulder, as he headed off again.

* * *

Palpatine hastily collected himself. The Queen's arrival had not been announced to him, or, apparently, the Chancellor. Two Jedi stepped out. He nearly sneered, but caught himself and turned it into a smile. That Luke and Padawan Kenobi. The Padawan helped the Queen out of the speeder. 

"Your Highness. I was so distressed to hear that you were injured under the care of the Jedi. Perhaps you will reconsider my offer to house you under my protection?"

"I will not. I was injured after our transport was forced down by what appeared to be a Trade Federation Droid Ship. It was this Jedi Knight's excellent piloting skills that kept me from further injury." She indicated Luke with a wave of her hand.

"I am sorry, Your Highness, I didn't realize. I apologize."

"Your apology is accepted Senator. When will the Senate be assembled for this session?"

"It shouldn't be more than a few minutes more; we can go get into place now if you like?"

"No. We will wait for Padawan Kenobi and my handmaidens."

"I thought surely…" he trailed off as the Padawan took his hood off and Palpatine finally got a good look at him.

"Padawan Garen Muln, at your service," he said, grinning like a fool.

"We have been assigned a Jedi to protect us, who is very thorough." The Queen told him.

"I see." Palpatine said. He didn't like that, that there was a Jedi out there paranoid enough to send a decoy Jedi, so that he could split up those that he needed to protect.

As the second ship came in, he couldn't really tell much difference between the two Jedi that were in the ship and those already on the landing pad, and the only other difference was that there were two handmaidens instead of the Queen.

"Your protector is very good. What is his name?"

"Ben," Luke answered.

The second vehicle landed, and along with the two Jedi, and then several of the Queen's personal guards exited the vehicle, showing the reason for the different vehicle.

The two handmaidens came up and greeted the Queen, bowing to her. He looked at the two of them, nearly mirrors of each other, and he knew, under all that white make-up, Padmé looked nearly the same. _Her handmaidens look more and more like her. How does she do that?_

The group started into the Senate hall, ascending several flights of stairs before heading for the interior where they found their way to the Naboo repulsorpod.

Padmé held her breath, just a little. She wanted to be able to be doing the talking, but she understood the necessity of having the masquerade. It was still possible that once the Trade Federation lost the battle here in the Senate that they would still try to kill her. She hoped that would not be the case, but she didn't discount the possibility. She held herself together, carefully behind the Queen, on the other side from Leia. Having gotten a fair run down of the way that Palpatine expected this to go, she'd given Sabé as many answers to as many of the questions as she could. Leia had actually been helpful with this. She'd said, when Padmé questioned her quietly, in a short moment alone, that she'd caught Bail watching a Holo of it once, and asked him about it, and he'd told her that the Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum was the beginning of the Empire, though it had taken thirteen years for them to realize it, and he'd let her watch it again with him.

They were as prepared as they could possibly be. She stepped into the Rotunda with Sabé and Leia, with their four Jedi protectors at their back. There wouldn't be room for the guards that they'd brought, but it would have to be enough. She was certain that Palpatine wouldn't try anything in the Senate chambers, with four Jedi watching him like hawks. The applause was nearly deafening as the Chancellor announced them. _We are ready. _She told herself again.

* * *

**The Ani/Anakin thing...Nine-Year-Old Ani with Padmé, but then he scampers off before Anakin shows up. Little Ani again with Yoda, everything else is Anakin.**

**AN: if you haven't seen it, I have a new fic up called "The Slightest Bit of Happiness" which I have posted 2 chapters and should have the third up sometime tomorrow. So there was my plug for my other story. **


	30. Battle in the Senate

**AN:13 reviews for the last chapter, which is not bad, considering. It's all ready, so I see no point in delaying...especially considering the twist at the end. **

Teresa:**Seems like you were the only one that picked up the fact that Qui-Gon woke up in the last chapter. Thank you for your insightful review, as always. **

dmitchell:**I have inserted blurbs at the bottom of each chapter incase you have any further problems. this starts in Chapter 25. **

Clara Motion Wright**: Our flight recorders are neon orange...and we call them black boxes...NEway**

**Thanks to every one else. I've been sending out some review replies, but I'm not sure when they'll be out...**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 30**

Yoda harrumphed at Qui-Gon. "Easy enough for you to say, Qui-Gon Jinn. To teach him the ways of the Force, your responsibility it is not."

"Yes, but he has had an awfully hard day thus far. Can you not feel his distress projecting through the Force?" Qui-Gon asked quietly, still not up to his usual self. "He needs comfort, not platitudes."

The Healer came over then, to tell Yoda that he had a message. "Later we can discuss this." Yoda informed Qui-Gon, and he went and spoke with Mace who informed him that they'd found Sith Artifacts in a secret chamber that led directly to Palpatine's quarters.

Yoda left his contemplations about the Padawans he'd been caring for to attend to coordinating the caging in of the Senate building.

* * *

Qui-Gon put his arms around the boy, whose worry about him as well as his Padawan and the others who'd gone to the Senate was clear to anyone with eyes, let alone the waves of it that came off him through the Force. He watched the Healer's disapproving looks as Ani crawled into the bed with him, but she said nothing, so he said nothing.

"Now, now, everything is going to be alright, Ani."

"But everyone was hurt by the bad Sith man. I'm scared that he's going to come back."

"He will not do anyone harm while we are safely inside the Temple, and there are enough Jedi with your young handmaiden friend, as well as my Padawan to keep them safe. Should he chose to show his face again, I believe that the entire Temple would empty out in search of him, track him down and kill him so that he couldn't hurt anyone else. I doubt he would be so rash, but one never knows with a Sith."

"Master Qui-Gon?"

"Yes, Ani?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you when you told me that being a Jedi was hard."

"It's alright, little one. I didn't really expect the lesson to be shoved in your face the way that it has."

"It's usually not this bad, is it?"

"No, it is not. Usually it is quite boring."

"Oh, ok." Ani drifted off to sleep then, having finally exhausted his energy reserves for the day, with his head resting on Qui-Gon's shoulder, and his arm flung across Qui-Gon's chest. He put his arm tighter around the boy to ensure that he wouldn't fall off, and drifted off to sleep himself, as they'd both had hard mornings.

* * *

Padmé watched the slime of a Senator as he tried to manipulate her friend, who was masquerading as the Queen, "If the Federation moves to defer the motion...Your Majesty, I beg of you to ask for a resolution to end this congressional session."

"I wish I had your confidence in this course of action, Senator." The Queen said.

"You must force a new election for Supreme Chancellor...I promise you there are many who will support us...it is our best chance...Your Majesty, our only, chance."

"We have been over this, Senator. I do not believe that with the Jedi for witnesses, it will be necessary to call for this vote."

"Not everyone holds the Jedi in as high regard as you and I do, Your Highness."

The Chancellor's voice rang out, "The Chair recognizes the Senator from the sovereign system of Naboo."

Their congressional box floated into the center, hovering on a level with the Chancellor's Podium.

"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate. A tragedy has occurred on our peaceful system of Naboo. We have become caught in a dispute you're all well aware of, which began right here with the taxation of trade routes, and has now engulfed our entire planet in the oppression of the Trade Federation, and the treachery is deeper than that still, as they attempted to assassinate our young Queen just this morning."

As predicted, the Trade Federation's Senator Lott Dod, furiously approached the center. He began yelling even before the box was halfway there. "This is outrageous! I object to the Senator's statements!"

"The Chair does not recognize the Senator from the Trade Federation at this time. Please return to your station." Valorum calmly answered him, and he removed himself from the center.

"To state our allegations, I present Queen Amidala, the recently elected ruler of Naboo, to speak on our behalf." Palpatine continued.

There were some applause as the Queen stood to speak. "Honorable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Your Honor Supreme Chancellor Valorum, I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. The Naboo system has been invaded by force. Invaded...against all the laws of the Republic by the Droid Armies of the Trade..."

The Trade Federation Senator disrupted the speech again, right on cue, "I object! There is no proof. This is incredible. We recommend a commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth."

"Overruled." Valorum stated as they waited for this bit of procedure to play itself out, so that they could get on with the plea.

"Your Honor, you cannot allow us to be condemned without reasonable observation. It's against all the rules of procedure." The Trade Federation's Senator continued.

A third box representing Malastare moved into the center of the room. "The Congress of Malastare concurs with the honorable delegate from the Trade Federation. A commission must be appointed...that is the law."

"The point..." Valorum began before several of his aides caught his attention.

"Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic, and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will disappear." Palpatine told the Queen.

"I think not, Senator."

"The point is conceded...Section 523A take precedence here. Queen Amidala of the Naboo, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?"

"I will not defer...A commission is unnecessary, I have three witnesses, one of whom was grievously injured in the assassination attempt. These witnesses are of unimpeachable objectivity and integrity, I present Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker of the Jedi Order."

* * *

Obi-Wan suddenly felt his stomach flip-flop as he realized that he didn't like speaking in public. He didn't even have a chance to move before the objections started.

"I object! The Commission must still be appointed; this is the Senate, not a court of law." The Trade Federation's Senator continued.

"Is that all that he knows how to say in Basic, Your Highness?" Obi-Wan said in a low tone to Sabé, but loud enough for the rest to hear, as he went to the front of the box to make his speech, but waited while the Chancellor brought the body to order.

Valorum's aides started to present points, but he waived them off. "The day the Jedi have no voice in this Senate is the day that the Republic is dead," the Chancellor said with finality, but the Senate erupted into loud shouting. About a quarter seemed to be against the presentation of evidence by the Jedi, but most seemed for it. Obi-Wan was shocked at how many people seemed to be already under the influence of the Sith Lord.

"Thank You, Your Excellency. Assembled members of the Senate, I have come before you to offer my testimony as to the events of the last few weeks on Naboo," Obi-Wan began, "We were asked by the Chancellor to go to Naboo and assist in settling the differences between the Trade Federation and the Naboo. We arrived, and requested to board. We were escorted to a conference room by a protocol droid, TC-14. Master Qui-Gon said that he felt an unusual amount of fear for something so trivial." Obi-Wan opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted.

"I object! This is a matter of the utmost importance…" The cold stare of the Chancellor actually shut the man up.

"We will hear the testimony without further interruption." Valorum said, and then gestured for Obi-Wan to continue.

"We waited, only being attended to by the droid. We were assaulted by dioxin gas, but were able to avoid being poisoned by it. Battle droids attempted to enter the room to discover whether we were dead yet, I assume. We encountered multiple battle droids of various types before finding the hanger bay. There were armies worth of battle droids there, all packed up waiting to go to the surface. We stowed away on the ships as they headed for the surface, meeting up once we arrived.

"We found a local, one of the Gungans, who was kind enough to escort us safely to the Naboo City of Theed. We were able to secure the freedom of the Queen and some of her people, and took a ship through the blockade. Damage done to the ship in the ensuing firefight delayed our trip here, but we were able to finally arrive late yesterday."

"Did you see members of the Trade Federation at any point?" The Chancellor asked, before any objections could be raised.

"Yes, while we were observing the hanger bay, we observed several Neimoidians, and again on the surface, we saw several others, including Viceroy Nute Gunray."

Luke stood at the front of the box after Obi-Wan finished. He gave testimony, similar to what Obi-Wan had said, but significantly different, being from his point of view. He was a Jedi, and that had helped him to quell the fears that he wouldn't be able to do this. He was uninterrupted, both because his testimony fell in line with Obi-Wan's and it was more general. He didn't say that he saw any particular Neimoidian, because he hadn't even seen a Neimoidian until he'd gotten on board the Trade Federation's ship. The revelation that Obi-Wan had seen the Viceroy had caused quite an outcry, but it had been quickly quelled by the Chancellor. _All in all, this is going well_. Obi-Wan thought as Luke backed off from the front of the box.

* * *

Palpatine begged the Queen to reconsider her actions. He was furious when she resisted his manipulations, although he couldn't show it. He'd ordered Maul to try to again finish them off, but he'd apparently left the planet, since he could find no trace of his Apprentice through the Force. _If I escape this, I will punish him severely for abandoning his mission. _He made his speech; prettied words for deaf ears, but he made it anyway. He stepped back, knowing the Queen's plan, and dreading each step. She made her speech, at least the start of it, but when the toad from the Trade Federation objected, she should have been angry, furious. She wasn't. She simply moved to the next step in her plan. She'd _known_ that she was going to be thwarted, somehow. They'd had a short talk about it, but not to the extent that she seemed to be aware of the events surrounding them. It was very alarming.

She swatted down the objection with a call for testimony by the Jedi, which was, of course, why they were there. As the Padawan started to speak, he drifted into contact with the Force, studying those around him. First he viewed the Queen, but her normally clear but unremarkable Force Signature had been purposely muddied, and as he examined her two handmaidens, he understood why. Both of theirs had been changed so that the three of them were identical through the Force. Someone was well informed. He even probed delicately into the mind of the young Queen, but was thrown back by Force Shielding so strong that he'd never encountered the like. Someone didn't want him peaking. He really didn't care for that.

He settled for examining the bonds that each of them carried for each other. The Queen carried a very heavy bond for the handmaiden on her left, but a very light bond for the one on the right. _She must be very new, not to have formed a bond with the Queen, not even one of duty…_He thought as he moved on to examining the handmaiden on the left. She had bonds to both the Queen, and the other handmaiden, though the two were equally strong, they had very different qualities. She also had a strong bond to one of the Jedi. _Odd_, he thought. The second handmaiden had bonds to nearly everyone in the box. She held a very weak bond to the Queen; a very strong bond to the other handmaiden; a bond, stronger than the one she had for the queen, but fairly weak, to Obi-Wan Kenobi; and very strong bonds to the two Jedi. _How did a handmaiden get to be so close to so many Jedi? Maybe she is not a handmaiden at all, but a Jedi herself? But if that is so, how did she form so strong a bond with the other handmaiden? _

He examined the bonds that the Jedi Luke Skywalker carried for them. He had bonds to both of the handmaidens, but not to the Queen. And he had a bond to the older Jedi, Ben. All of these radiated strength of commitment far beyond what the Jedi Order typically allowed, even for Master-Padawan bonds. He had some sort of bond with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but not anything out of the ordinary, just a long-term bond of those who'd known each other most of their lives, but that was strange, because he'd not been around the temple before, at least not that his Apprentice had been able to determine.

He next examined the bonds of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had a strong, very strong bond to the old Jedi Ben; stronger, maybe even than that which he had for his Master, which he could also detect. He had a connection to Luke that looked new. There was no other way to describe it; it simply looked as though it had formed in the last few weeks. He had a bond to the other Padawan, which looked as though they'd been through much together, and formed a lifelong bond that he'd seen among Jedi before.

He moved on to the most interesting of the group, the brooding Jedi, Ben. His force signature was so brilliantly clear for the first instant that he touched it, that he was stunned. He'd never seen anyone so powerful. He wondered briefly whether he could turn the Jedi, but as he looked deeper, he found that somewhere along the way, darkness had consumed him, leaving horrible scars that would never heal on his soul. The fact that he was now firmly entrenched in the light showed a quality of character that he would never be able to break. He might have been able to twist it at some point, had he gotten to the Jedi before he was trained, but now it would be impossible. He checked briefly the attachments that this Jedi held. Both handmaidens, he held strong bonds for. Even the Queen, who seemed to be neglected, he held a duty bond for her. He held bonds for both Obi-Wan and Luke. Palpatine found it strange that he held this strong unreciprocated bond for one of the handmaidens.

None of this information was particularly helpful to him. He'd thought that if the Queen was playing handmaiden, which she seemed to do more and more, that could help him, but all three of them were so tightly shielded that it was impossible to tell. Even examining the bonds wasn't helping. The girl Jedi, he assumed, was somehow related to the other Handmaiden, and that was why she had such a strong bond with her. It wasn't out of the question.

_The Jedi have finished speaking _he noted. He drew himself out of contact with the Force. There was little that he could do, now that they had been allowed to speak. He watched as the Chancellor responded. "It is clear through the testimony of these Jedi that what the Queen is saying is true." The Chancellor started, "Therefore, as requested by the Queen we will bypass the use of a committee and begin debate of this issue."

Their box drifted back down to its place in the assembly. Palpatine noted Mace Windu get into a rarely used box, and headed to the center of the Senate Arena. "Chancellor, I request to be recognized," Mace's powerful voice filled the Senate chamber.

"Of course, Master Jedi," Valorum responded.

"The debate on the invasion of the sovereign planet of Naboo by the Trade Federation is no longer necessary. I have just recently had the displeasure of speaking to Viceroy Gunray," This was as far as he had gotten before being interrupted.

"This is yet another outrage! Chancellor, the law is clear! We again request a—" the Senator from the Trade Federation was cut off by Valorum's booming voice.

"One more out burst from the delegation from the Trade Federation and you will be escorted out of the Senate Arena! Is that clear!"

"This is shameful! It is outrageous! We demand a commission---" The Senator got only that far before the Chancellor shouted out again.

"Sergeant at arms! Remove the delegation of Trade Federation immediately, they are disrupting these proceedings and acting in a most uncivilized manner!" Valorum said as he overrode the Trade Federation's Pod controls and the Senate Sergeant at Arms with his deputies were waiting and hustled the obnoxious Neimoidians out of the Senate chamber.

"Now, Master Jedi, you may continue without further interruption," Valorum said.

"Thank you, Chancellor. As I was saying, the occupation of Naboo is ending as we speak. If Her Highness pleases, I have made contact with Governor Bibble on Naboo. With the Chancellor's permission I would like to patch him through," Mace said. The queen of Naboo was standing at the front of the box now. Palpatine had been so busy fuming over what was about to happen that he'd failed to notice. She nodded formally that the wretched Jedi could proceed.

"Granted, Master Jedi," Valorum responded. Mace keyed in the commands on his pod, and Governor Bibble's image was projected into the Senate chamber.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Excellency, Chancellor Valorum, and Members of the wise and good Senate for hearing our plea. The last of the Trade Federation forces are leaving right now," Bibble babbled. Palpatine was growing furious. The Queen and the two handmaidens began to weep, the weaklings they were. Palpatine didn't pay attention as Valorum told Bibble that his gratitude was really owed to the Jedi. The display of sentimentality about made Palpatine sick. Then Mace spoke again.

"As grateful we all are for a peaceful resolution to this crisis, there is another matter that I am here to bring to the Senate's attention. You have a traitor among you!" Mace waited while the gasps of shock ran through the Senate Arena, and then continued, "No less than the Senator of Naboo is that traitor; he and he alone orchestrated the whole crisis from the blockade of Naboo to the invasion!" Mace shouted.

Palpatine stood up then and had to speak, "Master Jedi, those charges are incredible. I trust you have proof of them?"

"Yes, Senator, we have proof. We have proof that you have been acting as a Sith Lord. That in the guise of a Sith Lord you convinced the Trade Federation to occupy your home planet hoping to force your Queen to call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum and secure your own election to that office. Your ruse has failed. You are now as much Chancellor as you are Sith, Senator. You are under arrest under the authority of the Jedi Order. The charges are treason, attempted assassination and attempted mass murder," Mace said.

The game was up, Palpatine knew it, and before either Luke or Obi-Wan could react hit lit his Lightsaber and ran the Queen through with it, while firing off Sith Lightning at the two Jedi.

* * *

**AN: The Ani/Anakin thing. Nine-year-old Ani appears in the first two sections, with Qui-Gon. All else is Anakin.**


	31. The Masacre in the Senate

**AN: Thanks, to everyone who's been able to read and review this story. I have put evil words at the end of this chapter, but never fear, there is actually one more bit. I really have nothing to say, as I think the chapter says it all, but thank you again for reading. Please remember to REVIEW!!! I don't expect it, but I'd love to see 400 reviews for this story. **

* * *

Chapter 31

Anakin moved as soon as Palpatine moved, but he was fast! Far faster than Anakin remembered him being, _of course_, Anakin realized as the Sith Lord struck down Sabé, _he is thirty three years younger than when we last fought_. He shut out Padmé's anguish at Sabé being killed. He was pleased to see Luke and Obi-Wan reacting in time to defend themselves from Palpatine's lightning attack. Anakin followed Palpatine out of the Pod, but he wasn't quite fast enough to keep Palpatine from striking down both Chancellor Valorum and Mas Amedda. Anakin cursed to himself; the information Mas Amedda could have provided to the Senate about Palpatine's activities could have saved thousands of lives, indeed possibly billions of lives. Anakin followed as the Senator leapt from the Chancellor's podium and onto the Trade Federation's pod, and from there towards the Techno Union Pod. He landed there and cut them down quickly with Anakin hot on his heels.

Anakin noticed out of the corner of his eye that Luke and Obi-Wan were in the chase as Palpatine headed for the Banking Clan's pod, leaving a trail of death in his wake. The Senate was in chaos as everyone fought to get out, but Palpatine had apparently used the Force to lock everyone inside and not insignificantly kept Jedi reinforcements delayed. Anakin could see several of the doors were starting to glow as lightsabers were put to them from the outside. Anakin had just about reached Palpatine, when the Sith unleashed a Force wave that threw off Anakin's jump, causing him to have to grab hold of a Pod, before he could heave himself up a strong hand pulled him up and Anakin found himself looking at the determined face of Master Windu. No words were exchanged, there wasn't time, and they both took off in pursuit of the Sith Lord.

Anakin took a moment to note where Luke and Obi-Wan were. He was pleased to see that they were headed counter clockwise to his and Mace's clockwise. He just hoped they would be able to pin Palpatine between them. Anakin ducked then to avoid a burst of Force lightning. It hit a hapless Senator that had been cowering near a door. Then Palpatine switched directions and came at Anakin and Master Windu. Lightsabers clashed as the Sith and two Jedi fought, then Palpatine unleashed another Force Wave that knocked Anakin back two steps, and forced Master Windu to drop his tight defense. Palpatine took advantage of this and brought his blade down, clipping Master Windu's knee, nearly severing his leg. Anakin jumped forward and blocked what would've been Mace's death, and used the Force to push Palpatine back. Palpatine was forced back and hit the side of the Pod but instead of being trapped he jumped and executed a back flip with a half twist, landing facing Luke and Obi-Wan, who quickly engaged Palpatine in a blur of green and blue. Then Palpatine shot out a volley of lightning that Obi-Wan blocked with his lightsaber, Luke tried to take advantage of Palpatine's apparent distraction, only to be met with a brilliant one handed defense. Then Palpatine jumped up and flipped, landing on a higher tier of Pods. Anakin moved to follow.

* * *

Obi-Wan was astounded by the speed and lethality the Sith had shown. He was obviously far better than the tattooed Sith Obi-Wan had encounter on Tatooine and during the assassination attempt. Obi-Wan was totally shocked at the lack of concern of life the Sith had shown, so far nearly fifty people had been killed. This fight had to end quickly before anyone else got hurt. Luke was jumping up to give chase, and so was the elder Anakin. Obi-Wan followed them. Once he got up both Luke and Anakin were engaged with Palpatine, exchanging blows fast and vicious. Luke again impressed Obi-Wan with his skill with the blade.

Obi-Wan landed on the edge of the pod, and used it as a springboard to flip over the Sith Lord and landed and attempted to end the Sith from behind only to be foiled by a swift kick to his knee which dropped him down and Palpatine moved to finish him, only to be met with Anakin and Luke's blades. Obi-Wan punched out and hit Palpatine in the knee, which hurt his hand, but hurt Palpatine worse. The traitorous Senator partially collapsed but then jumped up, kicking Obi-Wan in the face, knocking him back and loosening a couple of Obi-Wan's teeth. Obi-Wan shook his head and saw the Senator jumping down a level, then he took a Pod and slung it toward the Jedi. Luke and Anakin jumped out of the way quickly, but Obi-Wan wasn't quite as fast and just barely got out of the way the two Pods colliding with such force that they shattered, spraying Obi-Wan with painful shrapnel while he was in the air.

Obi-Wan landed hard in the Pod he aimed for and noticed that Luke and Anakin had reengaged Palpatine on the Chancellor's podium. Obi-Wan took a couple of seconds to shake off the hits he had taken, then he saw a sight that gave him hope this would be over soon, the rest of the Jedi finished cutting through the doors. Unfortunately, the Senators rushed the doors, then as the reinforcements started in, Obi-Wan saw the worst sight of his life, his danger sense went off just as it happened, waves of Force Lightning sprang up in front of the doors, killing several Jedi and all of the Senators near the door. He could hear Palpatine's cackle as it happened. Obi-Wan leapt out toward the Chancellor's Podium, only to be forced back by a Force wave that also knocked Luke and Anakin over. He landed on his backside in the Pod he left while he saw Palpatine make a move to impale Luke with the crimson blade of his lightsaber. Obi-Wan saw Anakin leaping up over trying to get back at the Senator, but he wasn't going to be in time. Obi-Wan pushed out toward the Senator with every thing he had causing the Senator to stumble near the edge of the Podium, instead of fighting for purchase though the Senator leaped out and into a Pod on the opposite side of the Senate Arena.

Obi-Wan then jumped to the Podium as Luke and Anakin got up there as well. Palpatine unleashed a volley of Force Lightning that forced the three Jedi to scatter. Anakin leapt forward, after the Senator, Obi-Wan jumped to the right, while Luke jumped to the left. Obi-Wan started hopping Pods to get to the Senator and help Anakin, who was in a fierce duel with the Sith Lord. He finally landed on the Pod Anakin and Palpatine were fighting on. Anakin struck low and Obi-Wan struck high, almost like he knew what Anakin was expecting. _It must be the training bond_, he realized. Palpatine, however jumped up over Anakin's blade while parrying Obi-Wan's blade. Then Luke was there, striking the Senator's exposed back and missed as Palpatine launched himself like a missile to the Podium again, Obi-Wan was the first to reach it and battled the Sith Lord for several seconds then Palpatine went low, Obi-Wan jumped to avoid his blade, only the Sith's blade wasn't headed down it headed up--impaling the Padawan through the gut. Then, for some mysterious reason the blade shut down, and Anakin was on the Sith Lord like a Kamino storm.

* * *

"Ben!" Luke cried out as he saw Obi-Wan get impaled on the crimson blade, Luke saw his Father reach out his hand and the blade shut down just before Palpatine could finish Obi-Wan's life. Luke was astonished at the speed of Palpatine. In the duels he had had with his Father, it NEVER had gotten this fast. Even when his Father and Obi-Wan fought on the Death Star they were moving this fast, this violent. Father had only used the Force to directly attack Luke once, on Bespin. Palpatine seemed to have no end of Force powered attacks. On top of that he was a clever, cunning fighter. Luke leaped over to the podium while his Father chased Palpatine off of it. Luke knelt beside Obi-Wan and checked him. 

"Go help your Father, I'll live," Obi-Wan said, conscious. Luke nodded and went after his Father and Palpatine. They were in a Pod exchanging blows at a furious pace. He was glad that they'd managed to contain the fight away from his Mother and Leia. He was three pods behind his Father and the Sith. But that wasn't going to last. Luke reached out and pulled a five-pod circumference around the Pod his Mother and Sister were in. He hoped it would be enough to keep them safe. He turned his attention back to his Father and Palpatine, they were still rapidly dueling, neither seemed to be getting an upper hand on the other. Luke launched himself towards them, jumping deftly from Pod to Pod until he was near his Father, he Force Pushed Palpatine's blade out of position, hoping to give his Father an opening. Instead Palpatine reacted and sent out a volley of Lightning, it distracted his Father just long enough to allow Palpatine to recover. Luke went around, hoping to flank him, he went down, then up to a Pod just behind Palpatine, he leaped and struck, Palpatine ducked Luke's attack and kicked him in the gut. Luke went flying back, the wind knocked out of him; he landed hard in a pod below the one his Father and Palpatine were fighting in. While Luke was recovering he saw his Father fly out of the Pod in one direction and Palpatine went the other direction. Luke used the Force to force air back into his lungs, a painful experience, and jumped up after the Sith Lord that had caused his family nothing but misery.

Luke jumped through three Pods then landed in the one Palpatine had landed in; he'd already recovered from the flight though and was ready for Luke's attack. Palpatine easily parried the strike, but Luke gave him a swift kick in the gut, causing Palpatine to double over, Luke then brought his knee up into Palpatine's face. Luke pivoted his lightsaber for a killing strike only to have his blow deflected by Palpatine using the Force. Luke freed his wrist just in time to parry Palpatine's blow, Luke then flipped over the Senator and tried to strike his back, but Palpatine was just as quick. Palpatine swung low, spinning around, Luke jumping to avoid the blade. He twisted his own blade downward trying to stick it into the Sith's skull, but he was thrown off by another Force Wave, Luke flew into another Pod, Palpatine hot on him. Luke landed hard and prone in the Pod, but just as Palpatine moved in for the kill, Luke spring jumped back to his feet and met the Sith's attack blow for blow, but his strength was starting to go, even with the Force, this had been a grueling fight. He kept up with Palpatine some how, then his defense gave way and Palpatine scored two neat cuts on his legs causing Luke to fall to his knees. Palpatine moved to deliver a killing blow, only to have it blocked by Luke. Palpatine disengaged quickly and took Luke's artificial hand off at the wrist, just below the original wound, Luke's lightsaber fell and Palpatine brought his blade up for the finishing strike only to be blocked again by Anakin's blade.

* * *

Palpatine was not happy with the turn of events. As things were, all he'd be able to do is wreck the galaxy. It wasn't what he had been hoping for, but chaos always helped the Sith, so even though he was most likely going to die today he would sow as much chaos has he could. Killing much of the Senate would ensure that chaos Maul would need. Palpatine knew the Dark Side was using him now, as it had his entire life. Only this time, it would require his life. _So be it_. Bringing the Jedi down was far more important that any single Sith. Maul might not be the most powerful apprentice Palpatine would've found, but he was strong enough. This Galaxy was meant to be ruled by the Sith, and it would be, even if it took the smashing of civilization to do it. He parried a blow by the mysterious elder Jedi. _He is powerful_, Palpatine could feel it, and he could also feel the Darkness at the edge of this man. It was like he had been deep in the Dark Side and just recently came back into the light. _Why would anyone do something like that, unless they were weak?_ Yes, he was weak, too weak to hold on to the Darkness, and he would die for that weakness. The death of a Jedi would be his fate. Oh, Palpatine hoped he had time to make it painful. It was just the two of them and Palpatine had been toying with him while thinking. 

Palpatine decided it was time to end this. It was time to destroy the Republic, and the planet cracker that he'd stowed in the bowels of the Senate building, indeed in the oldest Senate chamber where no one had been in ten thousand years. He was pleased that Coruscant was such a layer cake. First however, he needed to take care of this pest. Palpatine struck hard and fast, far faster than he'd been doing, it obviously shook his opponent, but the mysterious Jedi matched Palpatine's ante and raised it. Palpatine then forced his blade to the side and put his hand near the face of the older Jedi and used the Force to attempt to pull the man's face off, but before Palpatine heard the satisfying rip of flesh, the Jedi recovered and escaped.

Then the Jedi renewed his attacks, which was unexpected, every opponent Palpatine had tried that with had either died, or ran afterwards. There was something different about this one. Then the mysterious Jedi spoke.

"Your time is at an end Sidious. The Son of Suns is here now, to take your life as payment for the suffering you have caused!"

Palpatine sneered, though for the first time in the fight fear started its cold creep up his spine. The fierce duel continued parry after parry, faster and faster still, the blades blurring with the speed; the hum and clashes sounding as one, the blades causing a rapid strobe from the impacts, low, high, middle. No amount of variation threw this opponent. Palpatine couldn't even pause long enough to throw lightning. His opponent spoke again.

"The snakes come to claim you, each have struck. Now I will make the killing blow!" The Son of Suns struck hard and fast. Palpatine growled and shouted above the din of the blades.

"You will die as well, JEDI!" He screamed, but the other's response chilled Palpatine to the bones.

"I know, I don't care, just as long as you are dead and unable to hurt those that are mine anymore!" _How do you fight an enemy that doesn't fear death?_ _That the only thing he cares about is killing you before you kill him?_ Terror went through Palpatine. The fight increased in fury. Then, Palpatine found an opening and took it, plunging his blade through the Son of Suns, the Light's chosen champion. _Weak_…but what was that burning in his own chest? Palpatine looked down to find a lightsaber stuck in his chest up to its hilt and darkness claimed him.

* * *

Luke jumped down after his lightsaber; it wouldn't be easy to fight with just one hand, but Luke could do it. He jumped down tier after tier until he reached the bottom. He pulled the severed hand to him, which still had the lightsaber still in its grip. Luke pressed the three button sequence on the knuckles that would cause it to release, and reclaimed his weapon. He could hear the fight picking up tempo and knew he had to hurry if he was going to affect the outcome. He jumped up and up and up. He saw his Father and Palpatine on the far side, their blades blurs, the clash and hum having long become just one sound. Luke bounded from Pod to Pod and then he thought he heard his Father speak. He couldn't make it out, but he knew they were exchanging words while fighting the hardest he'd ever seen anyone fight. He also saw Palpatine pale in fear at his Father's words, and then both of their blades plunged into the other's body, right at the heart. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!! FATHER!" Luke screamed, he thought he could hear Leia scream as well, tears stung his eyes and he went down on his knees, then blackness consumed his soul, and he knew nothing more.

* * *

**_The End_**


	32. Epilogue

**AN: I was floored by the response to the last chapter of the book. As promised, here is the Epilogue. I will try to answer your questions, so that you won't lynch me. **

**1. Is this really the end? Well, sort of. It is the end of Yoda's Shadow. If you check my profile, which I update rather regularly, there is a list of what i'm doing/planning on this storyline. Some of it's posted already. The story "Interum" is dribs and drabbles which form no real basis for a story; rather, they highlight salient points for me, like what changed at such and such a point; a narrative on the activities of a character or a set of characters; and little peaks into the lives of Anakin, Padmé, Luke and Leia. **

**2. Did things change for the future? Well, duh. But I'll get into that in the next book, "Shadows of the Sith."**

**3. Why weren't the Jedi more prepared for Sidious? Well, because, even with Anakin telling them how dangerous Sidious was, they underestimated him. _Anakin_ underestimated him, and he'd been Sidious' Apprentice for twenty-three years. **

**4. Why did you kill off Sabé? Because I couldn't kill Padmé. Seriously. Palpatine's goal at that point was to reak as much havoc as he possibly could. Killing his own soverign would have accomplished that nicely, but Anakin outwitted him, barely. If he'd known just a little bit more about any of the people in the repulsor pod with him, he'd have been able to figure out which one was Padmé.**

**5. Why did you kill off Anakin? I can't tell. You'll have to wait for the next book. **

**6. Should I go read Interum? That's up to you. There are spoiler points though, stuff that I won't get to until well into the new story. At some point you should, though; they are interesting little tidbits. **

* * *

Epilogue

Mace breathed a sigh of relief. It was finished. He pulled out his comm, flipping it on, directing the thing to contact Yoda. "Master Yoda, it's over. He's dead."

"More there is than that, I sense, that you aren't telling me."

Mace grimaced. "We have people hurt, lots of people. Send in every Jedi that we can to start cleaning up the mess."

"Talk about this later, we will." Yoda told him in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Yes, Master."

* * *

Mace tried to be a good patient. He just never was very good about sitting still when something needed done. Yoda came to talk to him, and that was better. The Healers worked quietly on his leg, and he talked to Yoda. 

"See that our time travelers have left, I do," Yoda said.

"Yes, Master. They disappeared just as the elder Anakin killed the Senator. These events will cause much chaos. The Chancellor and most of the Senate are dead. It will be sometime before the legislature will be able to govern." Mace said, wincing a little as the healers worked.

"True, this is. Survive the Republic will. Necessary it will not be for the Jedi to take control. However look to us the Galaxy will for leadership until restored the government is," Yoda said.

"Nute Gunray will be here in two days, I think he should be held by the Jedi since everyone else is going to be busy with this mess," Mace said.

"Agreed. Many changes are coming. Change the Jedi must, if to survive we wish," Yoda said.

"How many Jedi did we lose when the Force Bombs went off?" Mace asked, not really wanting to know, but needing to know.

"Four are lost, though many are injured. Worse it could have easily been," Yoda said.

"What of the Tattooed Sith that Luke, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought?" Mace asked.

"No sign of him since assassination attempt, has there been," Yoda said.

"He will seek out an apprentice then; this isn't over yet," Mace said.

"Over it is not, agree I do. Time we have though. Prepare we must," Yoda said, hitting his gimer stick on the floor as emphasis.

"Prepare we will, Master," Mace said as the healers lifted him into a gurney and moved him out of the ruined Senate building.

* * *

Padmé walked out of the Senate building with the body of Sabé. The tears that had been stalled by the excitement of the fight flowed freely now. As she left the Senate building, she was grateful that the Jedi were keeping the press at a respectful distance. She heard a particularly loud reporter. 

"We are here live at the Senate building. The Massacre is apparently over with the Jedi killing the Senator that went insane in the Senate building. It is rumored that he was throwing thermal detonators around. How he got such weapons past security is still unknown," the reporter said. Padmé's blood boiled to hear the mischaracterization at what happened. She would've had words with the reporter if she wasn't so emotionally exhausted. Her children's disappearance troubled her. She hoped that they were safe and not just wiped out of existence. The death of the Chancellor represented a major change in the history they knew. However, she knew who their father was, and hoped that they would be born. She also hoped that this time she would have a chance to raise them.

* * *

Obi-Wan watched as they brought him into the room that they had Qui-Gon in. He wasn't feeling very well, but he could handle it. Anakin was curled up on Qui-Gon's bed, asleep, as was his Master. They must have been exhausted, not to have woken up when he'd gotten hurt. He breathed a sigh of relief, and he tried to shield a little better, he didn't want to leak into Anakin's thoughts. He'd watched the man that this boy had become die. He'd died a meaningful death, but he was still dead. He'd joined the Force, something only whispered of in legends, and then Luke and Leia had joined him, their mission apparently complete. Maybe they'd simply returned to the future, he considered, almost hoping that one day he might understand.

* * *

Padmé was sad, so very sad, that she thought it would be a very long time before she would be happy again. They were taking Sabé's body back to Naboo. She'd died in service to the Queen, and she deserved a state funeral. She lingered, though, saying her good-byes. She had dressed as a handmaiden, not feeling at all up to being the Queen. Eirtaé had taken the mantle on for this little bit. Rabé would do it when they returned, and Panaka had plans for further training for the young girls when they were home. 

It had taken a couple of days to get everything straightened out. She knelt on the landing pad talking to Ani, who'd just that morning gotten a Padawan haircut. "Are you coming back?"

"Yes, but maybe not until after I am not needed by the Queen any more. She is just beginning her term, and if things go well for her, she will be elected to another one."

"How long is a term?"

"Four years, so eight years total."

"I'll be seventeen before I see you again."

"And deep in your training. It may be longer than that."

"I understand. I'll miss you, Padmé."

"I will miss you, too, Anakin Skywalker." Anakin went back into the temple, dejected because she was leaving.

"Take care of him, Obi-Wan." She said, giving the newly christened Knight a hug.

"We will take care of each other," he told her. They'd been through hell together. Nothing more needed said.

"And you, Master Qui-Gon. I will see you upon my return." He took her small hand in both of his.

"I will look forward to it. Anakin is a very special boy, have no fear that he will still be here when you come looking for him."

"I should go check on him," Obi-Wan said and turned to the door, running after his unhappy Padawan.

"You can resign if you do not care for the amount of danger in your life. Though, if you choose to pursue the relationship that Luke and Leia seemed to be a product of, I doubt you will have less danger in your life." The door remained open this time, and they watched Anakin and Obi-Wan from a distance.

"Thank you, Master Qui-Gon, but I don't think I could consider either option."

"Master Yoda announced yesterday that marriage according to the customs of the homeworld that each Jedi comes from will be permitted." He paused, considering the next part of the announcement. "And that should a child be found to be a potential Jedi, that they can bring their family with them."

"That will certainly improve the recruitment, won't it?" she asked.

"That is the hope. There will be much outcry from those in the Order who take a dark view to attachment."

"Not you?"

"Obi-Wan is like a son to me, Anakin as well. They are like brothers already. I will not take a Padawan, I don't think, for the foreseeable future. I have had much change in my life recently, and come face to face with my own mortality. I don't think that I need the excitement of a Padawan right now. I believe that helping Obi-Wan with Anakin will be eventful enough."

"I hope for an uneventful reign as Queen." She said fervently.

Qui-Gon smiled. "The greatest curse in the world, 'May your life be interesting.' I wonder if that is whispered over every Jedi as an infant."

"I couldn't say, Master Qui-Gon."

"Padmé, we need to get going." Ric Ollie called her from the door of the ship.

Padmé sighed, "I suppose that it is now time for me to go home." She said to Qui-Gon.

"Yes," He said, "Have a safe and uneventful reign as Queen of Naboo. You will not have Anakin around; it will not be too hard, I don't think."

She laughed, and climbed the ramp. Ani would be fine, here with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to take care of him. She had a planet to care for.


End file.
